One Piece: Storm
by TheStoryTellingGuy
Summary: Decades after the One Piece was found, the Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy has been executed. Following his death, the world was almost immediately thrown into a conflict between two pirate factions spanning decades. Now, the final descendant of one of those factions is venturing out to the open sea, ready to live his life and make his mark. This is his story.
1. A New Dawn Breaking

_A New Dawn Breaking_

Passing through the empty, dusk waters, the large vessel, propelled by an early morning breeze, pushed forward through the lapping waves. Rising and falling against the current, the ship ate away the distance to its next destination in Loguetown Harbor. As it travelled, a spot of light appeared upon the horizon opposite its course, indicating the incoming break of dawn.

As the sun rose on the eastern sea, more details on the ship could be made out; large sails marked with several skulls and crossbones, large circular hatches on both sides, and a lion-shaped masthead staring out at the sea ahead. It was the Thousand Sunny, journeying through the sea where the first dawn had broken. And just ahead, the island where the previous dawn's sun first shone appeared over the horizon: the Polestar Islands, where the city of Loguetown stood.

Circling the island, the ship slowly docked into a quiet cove, far away from the eyes of those who would seek to destroy it. Grating against the shore, the ship slowed to a a stop and a man leaped from the bow, landing with a squelched crunch on the wet sand below. Grabbing the rope he had brought down with him, the man quickly and efficiently tied it to two hooks that had been added to the front hull of the Sunny. Satisfied that they were tight enough, the man heaved the large cords across his shoulders and began to drag the ship until it was firmly beached. Letting the rope slip from his hands to the sand, the man let out a sigh of relief, grinning at what he had accomplished. Calling up to his crew, he said that he was going to go into town to survey the market for supplies. A voice from the deck, one of his sons – he wasn't sure which – called back for him to be careful. He smirked, thinking that he would be fine.

Making his way to the actual town took him the better part of the morning, so by the time he arrived, the main square was already bustling with activity. People milled around the square, moving from stall to stall searching for anything they were interested in or needed. There were the standard fruits and foods people would find in a market like that, along with one or two pop-up tents for those traveling from one of the other Blues. One stand even sold an assortment of swords, reminding him once again that he needed to find a new swordsman for his crew. But out of all the shops, tents, and stands that stood in the square, one seemed to draw the largest crowd in the square and even those who were shopping elsewhere gravitated towards the mob.

Curious, the man made his way closer to the stand, hearing the various bids go quickly from the single digit millions to the double digits. This just made the man even more curious. _What could people possibly be bidding for that would make them go this crazy?, _he thought, throwing glances to mob around him. At some point, he realized that some people weren't even bidding, they were just there to stare at whatever was being auctioned off, a look of awe and wonder painted on their faces. Even more confused and curious than before, he finally managed to push his way to the front of the throng, breaking through the front and getting an eyeful of what had caused the mass panic.

It was a devil fruit. But to the man, it wasn't just _any _devil fruit…

"It's _his_," the man whispered.

Awestruck, the man stared, his mind frozen with amazement. A quick scan of the fruit told him all he needed to know. From the stories his old man had told him, he was able to get a decent description of what the devil fruit looked like, and right in front of him was the perfect match. A perfectly round shape, with wave-like patterns circling the purplish fruit. In that moment, he thought about outright buying the fruit. He _knew _he could outbid anyone there if he felt like it, he had the money to do it. But just as he was reaching for his coin purse, he stopped himself, realizing where he was.

This was Loguetown, not some place of high morality. Every pirate from the East Blue who wanted to travel to the Grand Line stopped there to get their supplies. Understandably, some stayed behind, realizing that they'd make a better profit extorting and ripping off their once fellow pirates than they ever would sailing the Grand Line. The fact that the first Pirate King was executed there simply made the traffic of pirates worse, thus drawing in even more scammers. He had seen someone pass off a fake devil fruit before, and he also knew what a real devil fruit looked like. He probably knew more about devil fruits than anyone in that crowd, and he knew there was one sure-fire way to tell that a devil fruit was real without eating it. Stepping forward, he was about to voice his claim to the vender when someone behind him said exactly what he had been thinking.

"How do we know you're not pulling a fast one, old man? You could've painted a ball or an odd-shaped apple to look like that and pass it off to one of these idiots for a quick buck."

Acting as one, the crowd collectively let out a gasp and split down the middle, all trying to get a better look while revealing the speaker to both the man and the vender. The speaker looked to be in either his late twenties or early thirties, wearing longish black hair with a small beard to match. He wore loose clothing of somewhat clashing colors, with a large belt fitted with a holster strapped around his waist. His boots went about halfway up his calf, with his equally loose pants tucked into them. The smile lines around his mouth were prominent.

Turning around, the man was left awestruck for the second time that day. Not only had he discovered the devil fruit that had belonged to Monkey D. Luffy, but he had also found someone else who had the common sense to think with their brains and not their wallets. The crowd around the two men grew quieter almost immediately, with only murmurings of whether or not they'd been duped. Some people even seemed ready to riot over it. The speaker smirked up at the now nervous-looking vender, obviously getting the reaction he wanted, and snapped his fingers, as if he came up with a brilliant solution.

"I know! You should cut the fruit open and show the insides to us so these _good people _don't feel like they've wasted their time here."

Almost immediately the crowd followed the speaker's lead and started yelling up at the vender, calling for the fruit to be cut open. The vender nearly toppled over as the first roar hit him. He was more than happy to comply. Fumbling with a knife as the collective screamed at him, the vender swung the knife and sliced the fruit, a loud _chunk _going through the air as the knife struck the wood below. Taking the two halves, the vender slowly turned the open halves for the crowd to cast their judgement. The reaction was… mixed, to say the least.

A few in the crowd thought that the swirling patterns in the fruit was the proof the fruit was the real deal, but weren't sure, most were confused and wondered why they even cut it open in the first place, and a bunch of the people just walked away, thinking that the fruit was unusable now that it had been cut open. There were only two in the crowd who knew that it definitely was a devil fruit: the man and the speaker.

Smirking again, the speaker walked up to the front of the stand and produced a wallet, saying, "You've convinced me, old timer. I'll take it."

A stir went up through the remaining crowd as they realized that it _was _in fact a real devil fruit, but before they could start their mass bidding again, the vender spoke up, stating his price.

"That'll be one hundred million beli."

Once again, the crowd fell silent. A few seconds passed, the awkward silence seeming to fill the square. One by one they began to leave. Most simply put their hands in their pockets and stared at the ground, an air of defeat surrounding them. Others muttered curses under their breaths at the vender, his family, and his cow. A couple, more hopeful than the others, stayed behind, rummaging through their pockets to see if they had a spare hundred million beli lying around. Once again, the two men were the only ones who defiantly remained, prepared to pay the high price for the fruit.

Looking back up to the vender, the speaker cast an arm out to the now empty square, emphasizing that he was one of the only ones left to sell to, and repeated his earlier statement. "I'll take it."

The vender, a lot less flustered now that the crowd had dispersed, put on a jovial face, glad that people weren't about to trample his storefront. Leaning forward against the cart, the vender gave the speaker a curious look, the unfamiliarity evident in his eyes.

"I don't believe I've seen you around here, fella," the vender said, eyeing the man's holstered pistol, "D'ya mind telling me yer name?"

Giving another one of his smirks, the speaker closed his eyes, replying, "Well this _is _my first time in Loguetown, I doubt anyone here has heard of me," pausing a little, the man opened his eyes, "The name's Tacken Gil."

Smiling again, the vender reached out his hand, responding, "Well Mr. Tacken, if you could be so kind as to produce yer coin, I'd be happy to-"

"Hold it! I'll pay double for the fruit!"

With a start, Gil and the vender turned from the sale and looked at the man, a little surprised he was still there. The entire time, the man had been left in bewilderment by the constant chain of surprises, starting with Gil calling out the vender and ending with the price of the fruit. In his shocked state, he only managed to think, _If only they knew what fruit that was._ He had only managed to break out of his stupor when he realized the fruit was about to be sold and he was determined to be the buyer. The vender, a little flustered at this sudden occurrence, glanced quickly between the two, looking for any sort of reaction. Gil blinked a few times, as if he was taking his own time to process it. Eventually, though, the vender decided to go where the most profit was.

"So ya say you can pay two hundred million?" the vender asked, leaving the question obviously open-ended. The man simply nodded, unsure in his own words as he began to think.

"Well this might sound a bit rude, but I don't believe ya!" the vender said, casting his gaze on the man. "I mean, one hundred million is quite a hefty sum, as you know. If Mr. Tacken here's a pirate – as that gun on his belt _screams_ – I can believe he _might _have that kind of coin on him. But to be able to so casual-like drop double that… I just don't believe it." Leaning forward across the stand, careful to avoid the fruit, the vender asked, a slight tone of annoyance in his voice, "So why don't you tell me yer name, unless ya don't have one? Maybe then I can… cooperate."

The man stood there for a moment, contemplating the words of the vender, deciding on whether or not to tell the truth or to tell a lie. In the end, the man told the truth. And staring into the eyes of the vender, not blinking once the man said, "Monkey D. Ace, the son of the Pirate King."

Time seemed to stand still for the three men, as they each took this statement in their own ways. Gil had probably the most shocked look out of the three: eyebrows arched, eyes full of surprise, and mouth slightly agape. He was also the quickest to recover. Ace didn't show it outwardly, but he agonized over the fact that he just revealed his name, something he promised he wouldn't do unless absolutely necessary. He kept trying to justify it to himself, that it was to win back his father's fruit, but he knew in his heart of hearts that he had just done it on impulse, that he had done it without thinking. He smiled inwardly, knowing exactly who that sounded like…

The vender simply laughed.

"You expect me to believe, with a name as uncreative as _that, _that you're the son of Monkey D. Luffy! Ha! If yer the Pirate King's son, then I guess that makes me a Celestial Dragon!"

Leaning back in his stool, the vender kept guffawing, mouth wide open for the world to see his wooden teeth. In between laughs and breaths, he would say something along the lines of "Monkey D. Ace" or "Pirate King's Son". Turning to Tacken, Ace tried to see if there was any sort of mockery in his face as well. He wasn't surprised to see that Gil remained expressionless, and the two exchanged a look of understanding. The vender hadn't been out to sea in so long that he had forgotten how unexpected it could be, and the various rabble that drifted from place to place matched the ocean's uncertainty.

At this point, the vender had been laughing for a good minute, and he didn't look like he was slowing down anytime soon. _How could any man laugh at something as stupid as a name for so long, _Ace thought, subconsciously scratching his head at the matter. Finally, he let out a sigh. Marching forward, Ace pulled from his purse a large wad of beli and set it in front of the vender, who almost immediately shut up.

Ace simply stated, "That's two hundred million exactly." Seeing the incredulous look on the vender's face, Ace added, "And if you don't believe me, have fun counting that for the next week. That's a rainy-day fund, so I should _know _how much is there."

Gil snorted. Ace turned to him, the question obvious on his face. Gil waived it, saying, "Oh, it's nothing… I just find it funny that you call two hundred million beli a rainy-day fund."

Ace let a small smile play across his lips. He had never really thought about the ridiculousness of his money saving habits, and having it suddenly brought to light in such a scenario… he couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Turning once more back to the vender, Ace kept his stare passive, waiting for the vender to make his move. Eventually, the vender came back to his own senses, having finally gotten over the large sum of money just deposited on his counter. Trying to become the suave businessman he was before, he couldn't help but look shaken as he slicked back what little hair he had left. It wasn't everyday that you find a devil fruit, almost get trampled by a mob, and get paid more than you ever had in your entire life. "Well then, I guess that's it then… I mean, I don't care whether or not yer the son of a King or born from shit, anymore. I'm still gettin' paid." And with that, the transaction for the Gum Gum Fruit was finally complete.

Taking the two halves from the vender, Ace carefully wrapped them up in a spare piece of fabric he had in his pocket, his mind full of utter disbelief of what he had done. At some point he lost his train of thought, snapping back to reality once he realized he had covered the fruit in two layers of cloth. Hurriedly thanking the vender, Ace began to set off back for the ship, but not before offering Gil his sympathy. "Sorry I had to outbid you like that. It's not everyday a devil fruit sells for that cheap!"

Gil seemed to shake off the financial defeat, physically shaking his head as well. "If that vender knew how much devil fruits could go for in the Grand Line, he would've probably had a heart attack." He smiled, "Congratulations on being rich."

Giving his own smile, Ace waved goodbye and began his journey back to the Sunny. As he walked, he thought he saw something off about Gil's smile, but decided to ignore it for now. Once he was out of sight of the people of Loguetown, he slowly brought out the fruit, still over-wrapped in cloth. Part of him wanted to eat the fruit then and there so he could have the power of his father as soon as possible, but he decided to go against this gut feeling. He'd rather show the fruit to his family and crew before he ate it. Giving it one last look, he began moving to put it back in his pocket.

Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, the fruit was snatched from his hands. Ace halted in his tracks as he processed what just happened. As the gears in his head came to a stop, he sprung into action, chasing the assailant in his odd-colored clothing. But before either of them could get far, Ace heard the unmistakeable sound of someone crunching into an apple. Knowing there was no point in continuing the chase, Ace came to a stop. Apparently the thief had a similar idea as they too came to a stop.

Turning to face him, Gil gave Ace one of his smirks. "Well, that was disgusting."

Raising an eyebrow, Ace asked in jeer, "What? The fruit or what you just did?"

Thinking for a second, Gil shrugged his shoulders, responding, "Kind of both."

Shaking his head in slight disdain, Ace simply stated, "No honor among thieves, I guess."

Gil nodded in agreement. "That's true." Pulling out his own wad of cash, Gil tossed it to a surprised Ace, who fumbled with it for a bit. "May not be honor, but here's my condolences. Sorry if it takes you three days to count if I was actually gonna pay the amount that idiot vender put forward."

Raising another eyebrow, Ace asked Gil once again, but this time in genuine curiosity, "You're a strange one, aren't you?"

Shrugging his shoulders again, Gil countered, saying, "Eh. I'm a pirate who steals from people then gives them a hundred million, you're the son of the Pirate King. Nobody's perfect." But then a serious look came onto his face, or at least as serious as he could look. "But I doubt that won't stop you from wanting to get some kind of revenge. I mean…" He began stretching his fingers, "This is your old man's fruit, right?"

Despite also putting on a serious look, Ace couldn't help but smile. "That _is _true… but I don't think I could bring myself to kill you."

Crossing his arms, Gil gave Ace a stern look, like a parent would if their child said something they weren't supposed to. "Don't say that! If you kill me, not only do you get revenge for wasting a hundred million beli, but you also get your fruit back!"

Walking up to him, Ace patted him on the shoulder, giving a warm smile. "I guess we'll see what happens, then," as he strolled past Gil and towards the direction of his ship.

The next day, the two pirate crews met on the open sea and, as they said they would, did battle. The New Straw Hat Pirates did great damage to Tacken's ship with the help of the Sunny's weaponry, but as Monkey D. Ace said he would, Tacken Gil was spared of his life. But on that same day, during that same battle, something happened during what should have been an inconsequential sea duel that would forever change the course of history for decades to come…

Tacken Gil killed the son of Monkey D. Ace.

**Long A/N: If you don't really care about fanfiction fitting with the canon story, then skip the bolded part. If you do, continue reading.**

**I began writing this story towards the end of Whole Cake Island Arc in the anime, so if there is anything that is different from my assumed canon and the actual canon… sorry.**

**To hopefully combat this story not making sense, I want to list a few things that I think would happen in my version of events: Luffy stays the Pirate King for his entire adult life until he's around sixty (when he's executed), the World Government is still in power by the end of the series, and the Revolutionary Army is gone. If there is anything specific you think would be a problem, please PM me. Now, enjoy your read.**

**I also just want to say, I'm posting this to test and see how well this story idea is received.**


	2. It's You!

_It's You!_

"Caught anything yet?"

On the northern end of the island, waves lapped against the shore of a tiny cove, leaving behind small shards of driftwood and other bits and bobs on the sand, wind whispered through the tall grass, as if beckoning for others to listen, and rocks stood as barriers to the outside world, barring access to prying eyes. To a passerby, the beach wouldn't even be visible. But, under closer inspection, one could see a natural path formed in the rocks, leading to the small inlet. And with noon just around the corner, that small piece of nature was left in a picturesque light, no shadow left to mar the scene. It was probably one of the most serene locations on the island and it made a perfect fishing spot for those who knew where to look. And, currently, the people who knew where to look were an old man and his granddaughter.

Digging her feet into the sand, the granddaughter knew that there was no point in answering the question. They were sitting only about a meter apart, so they would know whether or not the other caught something.

But, in an attempt to alleviate her boredom, she responded, "Nope… nothing at all."

The grandfather leaned back, using his arms to prop himself up in a slouched position. Sighing, he cast his gaze across the blue expanse that made up the West Blue that stood before them. He reminisced on simpler times when he was once free to travel the world to his liking and see sights that any man would dream to see.

But those times came to an end with the coming of the war.

Decades of his life were taken in the form of enlistment to the Marines and their efforts to quell the storm. During his time in the Navy, he felt little satisfaction in what he did, fearing his efforts were going to waste. He was only released from service when he had grown too old to serve, and upon returning to civilian life, he realized his biggest fear had been true. Now he was stuck on that island, forced to stay even if he did feel like sailing again, his life made stagnant by a war that shouldn't have happened. He cursed under his breath for perhaps the thousandth time over the course of five decades those that had dragged him into it…

Following her grandfather's gaze, the girl stared out at the sea as well, wondering what it was like to explore it. She'd been told horror stories of what it was like to live out on the sea: Sea Kings, pirates, disease, storms, starvation. She'd heard it all. But something about the mystery of what could happen and possibility of adventure seemed to draw her in. Internally, she shook her head. _Like something like _that _will ever happen, _she thought. She returned her sight to the sea, the big 'What if?' still hanging in her mind.

But as she gazed, she noticed something to the Northeast of them sitting on the horizon. At first, she thought it was a trick of the light or something, so she blinked a few times and rubbed at her eyes, expecting it to go away. It was still there. Curious now, she shifted position to get a better look, scooting a little to the left in the sand and craning her neck. From there, she was able to watch as the object slowly drifted into clearer view, allowing her to discern what it actually was.

A rowboat.

Shocked, the granddaughter sprang to her feet, startling her grandfather out of his own thoughts. A quick word between the two let the old man know what was happening. Brushing sand off his clothes, the old man lurched to his feet, leaning against his fishing rod and squinting his eyes to try and see. As the boat drifted closer and closer, the two realized that the current would bring the boat in in only a matter of minutes. Judging the angle of the boat's prow, the granddaughter estimated where the boat would land and sprinted off to go meet it, her grandfather stumbling to keep up behind her.

Dashing through the tall grass that covered the northern shore of the island, the granddaughter felt pain shoot across her every time one of the numerous switches whipped her body. But still, she kept her pace until finally she reached where she had assumed the boat would land. Doubling over, the girl gasped for air, her lungs and throat burning. Soon after, the old man caught up to her, wheezing with every step. Standing by her side, the old man basically collapsed to sit on the sand, his broad shoulders rising and falling with every raspy breath. The granddaughter soon followed suit.

For about a minute, the only thing the two could see was sand. The run had taken a lot out of them and now they barely had enough energy to even see where the boat was. Panting to the ground, the girl wondered why she was even so excited for it in the first place. There would basically be no point in sailing away in it, they had no provisions at the ready. Also, she sure as hell couldn't leave her brother behind in a place like-

_Scrunch._

Train of thought broken, granddaughter and grandfather alike looked up as the rowboat grated into the shore. Exchanging a look, the two scrambled to a standing position, the same curiosity burning inside them. The two began creeping towards the boat, slowly moving in anticipation at what could be inside. Treasure was the girl's first thought, but it quickly turned to a more practical vision of dried provisions; the old man thought worse. Methodically, the two finally reached the side of the boat, letting out a collective gasp at what was inside.

It was a man.

Actually, a better description would be a _young_ man. He only appeared to be about a year older than the granddaughter, who was seventeen at the time. Their attention was then immediately drawn to his hair. A mess of slightly dirty blond hair sat on his head, although it appeared multiple attempts had been made at shaping it into a pompadour of some kind. But while blonde hair was slightly uncommon in the West Blue, it wasn't the strangest thing about him. In fact, the strangest thing about him was what surrounded him: it appeared as if he had little to no provisions anywhere in his boat, save a near-empty water skin. The only thing that could even be considered food of any kind was the seagull that had begun making a nest in the prow of the boat.

In short, he looked like a homeless bum, and the salt-stained clothes didn't do him any favors. The only thing that looked to be of any value in the boat was a pistol holstered at his side, and while everything about the young man appeared to be dulled and worn down, what little metal that could be seen showed no signs of rust and appeared to be shined regularly.

Curiosity finally getting the better of her, the granddaughter slowly leaned into the boat despite the grandfather's quiet warnings. Taking a good look at his face, the granddaughter thought he looked familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd seen him before. Resigning to figure out the mystery man's identity later, she decided that the best course of action was to figure out if he was still alive. And to do that, she poked him sharply in the forehead.

"Hey, are you still alive? Mystery sea man?"

Ignoring her grandfather's silent panic behind her, the granddaughter continued poking the young man until he finally began to stir. But as he did, the seagull that had been contentedly napping in its nest awoke, disturbed from its slumber by the granddaughter's rocking of the boat, and began screaming directly into her ear. Shocked, the girl tumbled from the boat's gunwale and back onto the sand, ears slightly ringing. In the boat, the young man was just as startled as the granddaughter, coming immediately to a sitting position and quickly glanced from left to right, looking for some kind of attack. To the grandfather's relief, he didn't immediately go for his pistol.

Finally sure that no attack was coming, the young man relaxed his shoulders, taking a deep breath as he absentmindedly raised a hand in an attempt to tame his hair. Now that he was calm again, he turned a glaring eye to the seagull which had resumed its napping, as if nothing had happened. He muttered under his breath, "'Knew I shouldn't have given you those sardines."

The granddaughter and the old man gave each other a glance, as if hoping the other would know how to proceed. Unfortunately, the young man in the boat began to carry the conversation.

"Honestly this is probably the saddest greeting party I've ever met," he said as he hopped out of the boat, "I mean, I thought tourists were greeted with women in maid outfits in the West Blue. Or was that the East Blue? I can't remember. Either way, all I'm greeted by is an old man and his… I assume granddaughter? 'Lady Friend' would probably work, too, but you know what they say about assuming…"

At this point, the pair had gone from being dumbfounded by the man's words to being angered and insulted. The two thought closely along the lines of, _Who does this punk think he is, _although the granddaughter had quite a bit more profanity in her train of thought.

Stepping forward, she was about to let the tirade going through her mind come out of her mouth, but before she could get a word out, the young man interrupted again. "Anyway, I'm just gonna head into town and see what's up. Maybe get a new boat since this one," he kicked the boat, splinters raining down from its side, "isn't cutting it anymore."

Once again, the two were left too stunned to speak, no word coming from either of them as they watched the stranger begin to march through the tall grass and towards their home town. The chain of emotions they had been left with from just him _talking _to them had been a roller coaster ride from start to finish, leaving them with the uncertainty of what to feel. The two shared another glance between themselves, hoping that the other had the answer, but none could be found in either's gaze. Turning their attention back to the newcomer, they were slightly surprised at the distance he had covered despite only being at a walking pace.

Without turning around, the strange young man raised a hand in farewell, calling back, "Good luck with your fishing!"

When he said this, the two realized that they had left their fishing gear unattended to back in their small cove, free for anyone to take. Taking one last glance at the rowboat, the two could finally take a look at the full dismal picture. Without the young man in the way, one could see the kind of damage it had taken: holes had been stuffed with various pieces of fabric, appearing to have once been a coat of some kind, and the planks making up the bottom appeared to have been gnawed at by some kind of bug, leaving long, slim strips eaten away. Even an amateur could tell that the boat wouldn't be able to sail for long. Accepting this fact, the granddaughter and grandfather began slowly making their way to the cove to collect their things

But as they walked, the girl kept thinking about the young man, wondering why he seemed so familiar to her. She was sure she had never met him before – she would surely remember someone who talked like _that_ – but she knew he'd seen his face before _somewhere_. Furrowing her brow, she thought to herself, _Is he some kind of celebrity in the newspaper? _She physically shook her head. _No, I doubt someone like _him _could ever get famous… unless he was a criminal or something. _Inwardly she smiled, laughing quietly at her own joke. But as her mind kept mulling over it, she finally realized where she'd seen his face before.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Alarmed at his granddaughter's sudden stop, the grandfather asked what was wrong, but the girl was too enraptured with her thoughts to answer properly. Thankfully, whenever she got like this, she would begin to think out loud in a low mumble. Knowing both his grandchildren did this, the grandfather managed to not lose his hearing with age.

"…and if that's actually who he is, and then _he _finds out about it, then…" Breaking from her thoughts, the granddaughter turned to her grandfather, saying, "We have to get back to town."

Without skipping a beat, the two began to make their way back to town as quickly as they could, still a bit winded from the sprint they had earlier. They could get their fishing gear later. Nobody would find the cove, probably. Right now, they just had to stop whatever was about to go down from happening. And that meant stopping the stranger and his big mouth from causing a scene.

"You know, if you guys opened a window every once and a while, maybe you could air out the smell of old men, stale ale, and piss," the stranger stated to the full, dim bar.

After wandering around town for a bit without finding anyone, the young man decided that the next best place to look would be inside the town's saloon. After that would have been the morgue. But thankfully he had managed to find seemingly the entire town's male population when he opened the bar's door, minus the children, of course. With the door opened, sunlight was able to make its way unfiltered by shutters into the building, leaving the young man in a silhouette and with a good view of a sight about as dismal as his former boat.

Despite it being basically noon, the bar was almost completely full, with some men leaning menacingly against the wall. Along with that, all of the windows were shuttered. Except for the door, the only light that would come into the building came in in thin slits. The majority of the lighting instead came from candles and dimmed bulbs hanging from the ceiling, leaving the rest of the room in a shrouded state. Someone was sitting at the piano, but no music was being played and no music was probably expected to be played, as it would ruin the mood. All eyes were on the young man, and they were glaring.

For about a minute, the room was silent, as if what the stranger had just said was still sinking in. Every creak of wood from someone shifting in their seat could be heard, and if you listened hard enough you could even hear the low hum of the electricity running through the lights. The strange newcomer silently clenched his fists, preparing himself for what was about to come next.

The air became filled with laughter.

Slightly stepping back, the stranger was hit by the force of laughter, eyes slightly widened from the reaction. As he looked around, the men's glares turned into smiles as they began clinking their drinks among their table buddies. From the side of the room, the man sitting at the piano began playing a jaunty tune, sending the building into even higher spirits. Even the room seemed brighter. Getting over his slight shock, the young man smiled and let the door swing closed behind him, his eyes adjusting to the newly dimmed room. Once he was finally able to see, the stranger promptly made his way to the bar, plopping himself down on one of the only barstools available.

Ambling his way to the young man, the bartender had a big grin on his face, making him look slightly handsome despite his bald head.

"I've gotta say," the barkeep began, "That was probably one of the stupidest things I've ever seen someone do in my bar in the past twenty years of me working here."

Putting on a grin of his own, the young man replied, "Yeah, well let's just say that I haven't had the best track record with that line."

Chuckling, the bartender asked, "Oh yeah? Well how many times have you used it?"

Holding up a hand with all fingers outstretched, the young man replied, "At least five."

Raising an eyebrow in newfound curiosity, the bartender asked, "And how many black-eyes has that line gotten you?"

The young man dropped his pinky finger, saying, "At least four. But don't even ask about the concussions. I stopped counting after number one. Kinda hard to after that, don't you think?"

Throwing back his head in laughter, the bartender let out a laugh that seemed to fill the room, something that was very difficult as the other men did a good job of doing that already. As he finished, he placed a full and frothing mug in front of him, saying that it was on the house. The young man took a polite sip, grimacing slightly at the taste. It was too early for booze. As he thought this, the young man looked around the bar again, taking in the jovial scene as people began to dance, the alcohol obviously taking affect. The stranger asked why so many were in there at that time.

Sighing, the bartender leaned back against the shelf behind him, casting his gaze skyward. After about a minute of contemplation, the bartender looked back at him, a pained look on his face.

"The thing is, most of these men are living the last days of their lives."

The young man raised an eyebrow of his own. Curious now, he motioned for the bartender to continue as he raised the mug to take another sip.

Looking past him, the bartender scanned the crowd and pointed at someone dancing a little more aggressively than the others. "That's Frank over there, the one in the flannel. I'd say he's only got another month or two in him. He has a wife and a kid on the way, and the only way he can support them is by working in the mines like everyone else. Problem is, the people running this island use… let's just say… _archaic _practices, and most of these men now got the black lung," the bartender leaned back against the shelf, throwing his eyes to the ceiling, "Of course, most of these people would probably leave this island, but the price for ship fare is so high that if they even _made _it to another island, they'd have nothing and would probably die a beggar."

Looking back at the young man, the bartender noticed the raised eyebrow while he sipped from the mug again, the question pretty obvious to him. "Yeah, I say _'if'_ because one guy actually pulled it off. Guy by the name of Gord. Best accountant on the island, if nothing else. Managed to save enough money and buy a ticket," a wistful smile grew on his face, "I swear, half the island saw him as a traitor and the other half saw him as a hero," the smile disappeared, "But then a rumor started spreading that they killed him and dumped his body. Now no one is willing to save that kind of cash to maybe die at sea. The Marines won't do jack shit because we have no way of contacting them and I doubt they'd care even if we _begged. _What's one tiny island to an entire empire?"

Throughout their entire one-sided conversation, the two were in their own sort of bubble, the other patrons completely ignoring them as they continued their midday festivities. The barkeep finally stopped, realizing that he had been ranting for so long without giving his young customer a chance to speak. He further realized that he had just dumped all of his thoughts, feelings, and emotions on a complete stranger, and he began to feel guilty for it. But the stranger didn't seem to mind, as they had gone through about one fourth of their drink during the conversation despite not liking the taste. Wiping the corner of his mouth, the young man picked back up the tankard and went to take another sip. Barely lifting his mouth from the tankard and without looking at the bartender, the stranger spoke into the cup his first words of the conversation.

"That sounds like a 'you' problem."

It was like a slap to the face. Of all the things the young man could have said, it was one of the few things the barkeep didn't expect. Despite the fact that he barely knew him, it still felt like some kind of betrayal of trust, and a sour one at that. His mood quickly became sour as well.

"Well, I guess you could say that," the barkeep said, aggressively wiping a dirty glass, "But it'll soon be _your _problem as well. Let's just say the people up top offer a pretty sizable reward for the report or capture of a newcomer to the island."

As he said this, the young man pricked up his ears, turning his head slightly to face the door. Shrugging, the stranger moved back to take a sip, muttering, "Now that's what you call good timing."

The bartender was only left confused for a moment before the door was slammed open. Suddenly, the room was relit by the harsh sunlight making its way through the open door. Along with the light, a small group of four men streamed into the building and lined up in front of the door. The guns in their hands shone in the sun.

The bar had once again gone quiet as all the men turned to face the group, an air of frustration beginning to swell as the men put their glares back on. Ignoring the stares they were getting, the men split down the middle in unison, allowing the person who was clearly the leader of this group through. Marching forward, the leader took one last drag on his cigarette before tossing it to the floor. The grumbles from the men only grew louder as they watched him step on it. Ignoring them like he had been doing it his entire life, the leader slowly cast his gaze over the crowded bar, silently taking note of any discrepancies. Finally, his eyes settled on the young stranger who had kept his back to the door. Walking forward, a big grin began to spread across his lips

"Well now, you must be the new fella that all the window watchers were on about," the leader said, taking his time as he approached the young man, the contempt dripping from every word. "Not everyday we see a new face around these parts, and it's fairly understandable that someone like you wouldn't know our ways," he placed a hand on the stranger's shoulder, "Ya see, we have this little thing called the… 'price of admission'. If ya want to be admitted onto this island – even for just a day – then ya gotta pay this price… that is unless you want to spend the rest of your life in the brig?"

Seconds passed, with the entire bar spectating the two, waiting to see who would make the first move. Letting out a sigh, the young man bent forward slightly, inattentively sending a hand to slick back his hair. Looking down at the countertop, he closed his eyes and mumbled something too quiet for the leader to hear.

Putting on a show, the leader mockingly leaned in, moving his free hand up to his ear as he said, "What's that, boy? I couldn't hear you?"

The young man slammed his head into the man's nose. The leader lurched back a step and clutched at his nose. He sputtered out a curse as he gripped even tighter on the stranger's shirt. Keeping pace, the stranger grabbed the leader's arm that was still clamped to his shoulder and pulled him back in to receive a punch to the face.

The stranger looked down at the downed man, saying, "I said: 'Rule One of fighting me: don't piss me off.'"

With the leader laid out on the floor, the other men jumped to attention, ready to avenge their fallen comrade. But instead of engaging, the young man rushed past them and towards the door.

"He's trying to run!" one of the men shouted, assuming temporary command over the other three.

Turning on a dime, the men raced to catch the stranger, happy to have another coward to run into the ground. But the young man had other plans. Instead of shooting out the door like they had thought he would, he stopped just before the exit and, with eyes closed, slammed the door shut.

Cut off from the sunlight, the men came to a sudden stop as their eyes began to adjust to the dimmed room. With wide eyes, they stumbled around, keeping a tight grip on their guns. But just as the room was beginning to reshape itself, the men felt something liquid splash into their faces. For the first five seconds they didn't react. Then came the pain. Several guns hit the floor as the men grasped at their eyes. They couldn't help letting out yelps of pain as the young man's beer from earlier seeped into their eyes. With his enemies distracted, the stranger began to lay into them. He slammed his fist into the first man's stomach. All the while, he continued his seminar on facing him in combat.

"Rule Two of fighting me: I _always _have home-field advantage."

With the first of the four men handily taken care of, the stranger turned to the other three. At this point, their vision had cleared just enough so that they could see his blurry shape. Blinking past the pain, the second man, who had managed to hold onto his gun despite the pain, raised it to shoot. But before he could pull the trigger, the stranger reacted like lightning and kicked the gun out of his hands. It spun right over the patron's heads and landed somewhere in the crowd. The second man was soon on the ground, probably with a bad concussion, too.

The final two men, thinking they had strength in numbers, charged. They drew knives from their belts, slashing at their blurry adversary. With seemingly nowhere to go, the stranger began to backpedal. Their confidence grew as the young man's shape narrowly avoided their knives. What they couldn't see, though, was the smirk beginning to form on the stranger's face as he nimbly dodged another slash to his throat.

Tired of the chase, one of the men lunged forward with their knife, with the other following close behind. But the young man had stepped to the side. With nowhere left to go but forward, the men found themselves walking right into the puddle of weaponized beer. In an attempt to regain their balance, the two men threw their hands into the air along with their knives. They floundered in their steps and began their hard descent to the ground. The young man had other plans. He grabbed them by the collars, hoisted them off the ground, and, in one fluid motion, sent both of them out the shuttered window with a crash.

The young man let out a sigh. "And Rule Three of fighting me: just _don't_."

With the window broken open, sunlight was able to stream unopposed into the bar, the light finally falling on the stranger's face and giving the bar their first full picture of who he was. All eyes were on the stranger who was no longer a stranger and they were all filled with shock. Gasps filled the air and several of the more able-bodied men jolted to their feet to get a better look. But the person with the most extreme reaction was the leader from earlier.

"Ib's you!" he shouted, having awoken from his little nap just in time to witness his men being tossed out the bar. Blood was flowing freely from his nose, but he made no attempt to stop it. Instead, he used his arm to wildly point at the young man, his eyes bugging out from his apparent shock. Raising his voice again, spittle mixed with blood began to fly, "You're the one they're abter! The one that cabe from that desbicable fabily!" His wild pointing turned to the wall, and every eye followed and saw where his finger clearly lead. It was a wanted poster with a bounty of one hundred million, and the bounty clearly belonged to…

"You!" the leader shouted again, "You're Lynn Tacken!"


	3. An Uncaring Man

_An Uncaring Man_

For the third time that day, the bar had fallen silent. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who was unaware of the kind of legacy the name 'Tacken' carried. Especially since its history made up half the chemical equation equaling decades worth of bloodshed and suffering. The people on the island were _especially _aware of it, to the point where hearing his name now had caused some of the older men to wince at painful memories. But those memories were from the past, and right now they were all focused on the two men in the middle of the room, waiting to see how a living part of history would react to the accusation.

The leader of the group, from his position on the floor, still had his finger raised accusingly, his entire arm shaking from a mixture of rage and fear. Occasionally, his eyes would dart from the poster, to Lynn, then back again. He, too, was waiting to see how the man would react.

Finally, and with eyebrow raised, Lynn responded to the leader's statement.

"And?"

For the bar, the silence was left even more stunned. What kind of an answer was that?

For the leader, there was almost no pause before he flew into a rage. "And!? _And!?_ You're part of one of the most infamous pirate families in the world, and you say '_And'_!?"

At this point, the leader became completely unintelligible as his words began to mix with even more blood and spittle, letting fly a disgusting mixture of liquids. Lynn awkwardly glanced around, seeing if anyone would do or say anything to stop the leader's derangement, but it seemed the crowd was too enraptured in the spectacle before them to move. Sighing, Lynn shook his head as he pulled his gun from its holster. The leader promptly shut up.

"Listen," Lynn began, keeping his gun pointed at the ceiling and away from the leader, "I don't know what you're going on about, and I don't really mind doing anything drastic. So if you don't explain to me what the hell you're talking about…"

But before Lynn could finish his statement, the leader had already scrambled to his feet and out the door, the sound of his wailing fading into the distance.

Letting out another sigh, Lynn holstered the pistol, muttering, "Should've hit him harder."

Realizing that no good would come of just standing there, Lynn began to move to the door, the entire bar still watching his every move. Not a soul made a sound, and the doorknob's creaky turn seemed to echo through the bar. But just before he actually opened the door, Lynn remembered something that he had wanted to say all throughout the bartender and his conversation.

Turning back to the room, Lynn called back, "By the way, your piano is out of tune."

The room's immediate reaction was even more confusion, and the men began muttering amongst themselves what he was talking about. The bartender was especially confused. He had owned the piano for around ten years at that point and had never noticed anything wrong with it. The man sitting at the piano began experimentally tapping on the keys, seeing if anything was wrong with the sound. What none of them noticed, at that point, was the fact that Lynn had already slipped outside.

Stepping onto the main road, Lynn couldn't help the grin beginning to grow on his face. It had been a decent day, so far, and he couldn't help but feel just a little satisfied, especially after the last island he was on and the subsequent journey from there to here. Pushing the thought aside, Lynn made another attempt at slicking his hair back, resulting in another failure. Sighing, he slipped his hands into his pockets and began strolling up the road.

"Freeze!"

Letting out yet _another_ heavy sigh, Lynn lazily turned to face the new brigade that had come to face him. Unlike the last group, this one had apparently decided to suspend any theatrics and had instead decided that a direct confrontation was better. Or, at least, that's what Lynn assumed since all of their guns were trained on him, already.

Rolling his eyes, Lynn said to the new men, "Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to freeze myself. So I think I'm just going to ignore that and go," and began walking away.

The new group's leader, standing a little behind his men, shouted, "If you don't stop right now, we will shoot!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Lynn scoffed. "Considering the fact that you guys are obviously pirates who took over this island, I'm honestly surprised you haven't already started."

Pushed over the edge, the new leader trained his rifle on Lynn's back, calling for the men to fire, and the firing squad began its projectile-fueled assault on Lynn. Speeding through the air, the volley of bullets whizzed towards Lynn, who still had his back turned to them. A smile of satisfaction grew on the leader's face as he knew that Tacken was about to be shut up for good. Deciding that death probably didn't feel too good, Lynn dove into an alley, letting the bullets fly past him. Cursing in anger, the leader called for the men to pursue him. He let the majority of them pass him before falling in line near the back.

The chase was on now. Lynn ran between buildings and ducked around corners as he dashed through the surprisingly windy alleyway. Behind him, he could hear the sound of the men's many footsteps and their shouts of encouragement to their fellow militiamen. Occasionally, one of them would try for a potshot, hoping to nail Lynn. But they would always whizz either too far left or too far right, smacking into the side of a building and sending wood splinters or shards of stucco flying through the air. The closest they ever got to hitting him was when they managed to tear a hole in his shirt. Lynn had felt something catch and had glanced down to see the new, slightly singed hole in his sky-blue shirt. He only took a second to breathe a sigh of relief before he began pumping his legs faster.

Unfortunately though, Lynn took probably the worst time to speed up as the seemingly never-ending alleyway began to end. Up ahead, the houses that had formed the backstreet had finally converged, with three short buildings marking the dead end.

"This is it boys!" the leader shouted from his place at the back, fully-loaded gun in hand, "He has nowhere to run now!"

But Lynn showed no signs of stopping, and even began to speed up. His legs became a blur, and the men watched in shock as he barreled through one of the backdoors.

Dashing through the small kitchen, Lynn heard a scream of shock as he slid over the table, knocking the cutlery over in the process. He ignored it. At full sprint, he leaped over the patched sofa, scattering equally-patched cushions and pillows across the room. He didn't slow down at all until he finally burst out the front door and onto the open street… straight into the gun barrels of the first group of men.

"So…" Lynn began, slowly raising his hands up, "You guys think we can just let bygones be bygones?"

Of the five that had originally confronted him, only three were there now. The leader was probably off crying somewhere and the other missing one probably actually _had_ a concussion. Fairly easy odds for Lynn to overcome. In reality, he wasn't too worried about the guns that were three meters in front of him. In fact, he was more shocked by the fact that those men were even standing in front of him. He just had to smile.

"Look, I'll admit you're dedicated to the job," Lynn said, hands still raised, "But this is gonna be pretty ugly if you don't turn around right now."

As if on cue, a figure dashed out from the alley on the opposite side of the street. The men, focused completely on Lynn, didn't even notice them until the sharp pain in their heads registered. Lynn, too, was taken by complete surprise and watched the men crumple to the ground. Blinking a couple times, Lynn took his own time to register the sudden appearance.

Finally coming back to his senses, Lynn threw his hands back down to his sides with a small thump, and said, "Well, I did warn you."

Without waiting a moment longer, the new and now familiar figure grabbed Lynn's arm, shouting for him to hurry up. Lynn didn't need the urging as he heard the sounds of the previous group making their way through the house he had just barged through. Running with the somewhat familiar stranger, the two dashed into the alley the stranger had emerged from. In fact, they ran in so fast that Lynn almost missed the sharp turn the stranger he was sure he'd seen before had taken. The slightly familiar girl once again grabbed his arm, pulling him into an even narrower walkway between buildings that was shrouded in shadow. And it wasn't a moment too soon, as behind them the sounds of their pursuers grew and then faded away into the distance. But the two didn't stop running until the girl opened a door and shoved him through it. Stumbling through the dark, Lynn nearly tripped over a low table, but the girl from earlier caught him by the arm. Pulled to his feet, Lynn was finally able to offer his simple observation.

"You're the girl from earlier," he said.

Ignoring him, the girl picked up the lamp that had been knocked down when Lynn's shin had nailed the table and placed it back on the table. The lamp flared to life when she flicked it on, filling the room the two were in with a warm glow. The living arrangements were cramped, to say the least. To one side of the room, a threadbare couch had been shoved against the wall, with an equally worn sleeping mat placed next to it. Both were covered in thin sheets covered in patches. A little way away from the lamp, a small portable stove sat coldly in the corner, the meal for that day left uncaught. But the most interesting aspect was the fact that, despite the tight space, there was what appeared to be a makeshift medical setup taking up about a fourth of the room.

But Lynn's quick study of the room was interrupted by a gruff cough from behind. Expecting it to be one of the pirate's men, Lynn spun around, letting his hand drop to where his pistol sat. The old man from earlier simply gave him a sharp look, eyed him up and down, and then walked past him to sit on the couch.

"I understand the fact that you wanted to save him, Julia," he said, as he plopped himself down on the couch. "But I don't understand why you had to bring him here."

Offended, Lynn turned to the old man and said, "I didn't need to be saved, you know."

Raising an eyebrow, Julia turned her attention back to Lynn. "Tell that to the people who were chasing you," she pointed out.

"I was about to get away from them before you showed up," Lynn fired back.

"You were literally about to get shot."

"I can be very fast when I want to be."

The old man gave a heavy groan. "Could you two please stop? You're giving me a headache!"

In an instant, the two were silent. Rubbing his temples, the old man raised his gaze to look at Lynn. From where he sat, the old man gave Lynn another cursory look, as if something had changed since the last time he inspected him. Dropping his eyes to the ground, Lynn shifted his weight between his feet under the old man's gaze. Something about it spelled authority, more so than the pirates from earlier, and he wasn't sure why.

Seemingly satisfied with his search, the old man leaned back into the couch, letting out a sigh as he sunk into the cushion. "You know," he began, his eyes staring at Lynn from his new position, "If it wasn't for the fact that you could maybe do some good for us, I would probably shoot you myself because of your damned family."

Lynn was instantly confused. Sure, the threat of being shot was a little rattling, but what caught him off guard even more was the assumption that he was apparently supposed to _do _something. Looking back at the old man, he simply asked, "What do you mean?"

Now it was the old man's turn to be confused, as he hadn't expected him to react this way. Raising his hand, he motioned as if Lynn had something to continue, saying, "Your reason for coming to this island…?"

Lynn just shrugged his shoulders.

Sighing, the old man began to explain, but was cut off by his exasperated granddaughter.

"You came to kill that Monkey Pirate bastard, didn't you?" Julia marched towards Lynn, an air of frustration about her, and began accusingly poking him in the chest. "This island is under the control of someone from the New Straw Hat Pirates. You're a member of the Tacken family, who are mortal enemies of the Monkey family. So you came to kill that Monkey Pirate shithead, right?"

The two stood there for a couple moments, letting what Julia had said settle. She kept her finger pointed as she glared up at him, who matched her gaze with one of neutrality. Finally sure that she was done, Lynn let out a sigh of his own.

"Listen," he said, pushing her hand away, "When it comes to that old fight… I don't care."

The two were taken aback by this. The old man had never even imagined the possibility that someone, especially one who was a member of the Tacken family, could possibly be indifferent to such a conflict. Heat rose in his face as his mind turned back the clock once again. Julia was equally surprised considering how much her grandfather moaned and groaned about the war, and she was about to do some of her own bemoaning. But before either of them could air their grievances about this kind of view, Lynn was already talking again.

"I didn't ever do anything in it. Hell, I wasn't even _born _during it; I was born the year it ended. Just because I share a name with one side of that fight doesn't mean I'm going to start caring about it."

Hearing this, the old man's gaze slightly softened. Lynn was reacting how anyone would in a situation like his, and he understood it. He quietly wished that he could avoid thinking of the war as well as Lynn was. The old man may have hated the Tacken Family, but at least he could still understand where Lynn was coming from. He just wished Lynn wouldn't act like such an ass most of the time.

Julia, on the other hand, still wasn't satisfied. "Okay," she said, nodding in agreement, "But why did you come to this island in the first place?"

For the briefest of moments, Lynn looked genuinely angry. The change in mood was so severe that Julia felt herself take a small step back. But just as quickly the change was over, replaced by a simple annoyed look. Before she could question him, though, he had already scoffed at her question.

"Like I need to tell you anything," he said, regaining his smirk, "All you need to know is that us meeting was just random." He walked past Julia, making his way to the door. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I've got places to be."

Spinning around, Julia grabbed his arm, asking, "Where are you going?"

Looking over his shoulder, Lynn simply responded, "To go beat up that Monkey Pirate bastard."

The two were floored. The old man shakily jumped to his feet and Julia's jaw literally dropped. _What kind of person pulls a one-eighty like that, _the two thought simultaneously. For at least a minute, the two stood there in their shocked states. Lynn glanced back and forth between the two, wondering whether it'd be rude to unhand Julia from him himself.

Taking the hint, Julia closed her mouth with a quiet _clomp _and composed herself. But the words still failed her as a million questions raced through her head at the same time. Finally, after what seemed like another minute, she settled on the question:

"Why?"

Raising an eyebrow, Lynn gave yet another confused look, as if the answer was obvious. "Let's just say that I don't like being indebted to anyone. I mean, I really didn't _ask _to be saved, but that doesn't change the fact that you still went out of your way to try. So I feel like I owe a debt of some kind to you." Grabbing her arm, he softly unhooked her from him. "So, if you excuse me, I've got probably a couple of asses to kick."

And just like that, he was out the door. Julia and her grandfather stood there for a couple seconds, unsure of what to do at that point. Glancing between the door and her grandfather, Julia wondered if there was _anything _they should be doing at that point. Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind, and in a moment of panic, she threw open the door and tore after Lynn. She had just remembered something extremely important that she needed to get to Lynn before he made it to the fortress. Thankfully, Lynn had decided to take a nice stroll to get to his destination and hadn't made it very far before Julia slammed into his back.

"Ow! What the hell?!" he shouted, gripping at his aching back.

Ignoring his cry, Julia, gasped out, "My brother! Can you please save my brother?"

Lynn shut up about his back. He was slightly shocked to see that Julia was on the verge of tears after hearing her basically shouting at him.

Seeing his silence as some kind of rejection, Julia began stammering out her argument. "You see, he's the real doctor, not me. After our dad was killed, he began helping people as best he could in secret. But some bastard ratted him out and he was arrested by the Straw Hats." Gripping the hem of her shirt, she looked down so that Lynn wouldn't see the tears welling up. "If he was out of there, we probably wouldn't be as bad off as we are, and this island would be better… at least just a little bit. So please," she raised her head, looking Lynn full in the face, "Can you free him?"

Without skipping a beat, Lynn gave her a confident grin and nodded. Turning back to continue his walk, he called back, "What's his name?"

Julia, put at ease and smiling, responded, "Bede. Bede Heilen."

Lynn, who had almost exited the alleyway at that point, laughed. "That's a pretty dumb name!"

Julia couldn't help but smile, quietly whispering, "Says the guy who's name sounds like it belongs to a girl," as Lynn disappeared around the corner.

"What do you mean he's 'just walking up here'?"shouted the officer, his spittle flying into his subordinate's face.

The two stood atop one of the fortress's many balconies that covered the structure's outside surface. Specifically, they stood on the one just above the giant wooden doors that made the front entrance. Before the subordinate had walked out, the officer had been enjoying a nice glass of iced tea, occasionally sipping on it while he read the latest issue of the news. It was mostly something to do with some no name rookies in the Grand Line making names for themselves. Instead, he spent most of his time checking the road in front of him. As he read, his eyes would flit away from the paper and down the road. He wondered with a smirk if some towns-person had beaten up his cowardly comrades. Now the tea and paper lay forgotten on the floor, the officer looking like he was about to explode in another tirade again in front of his trembling subordinate.

The subordinate, with shaky hands, wiped off his glasses before responding. "That's what I mean sir. He's just walking up here."

The officer threw up his hands, causing the subordinate to flinch. "Well that's just dandy, isn't it?" he said, basically shouting in conversational tone, "He beats up my fellow officers and thinks he can just waltz up here? Well, he has another thing coming, cabin boy, I'll tell you that!"

"Sir, I'm the lookout," the subordinate corrected, a mixture of sweat and spittle shining on his forehead.

"Whatever, cabin boy."

But as the two talked, a sneaking feeling creeped up on them that something was off. Unsure of what was going on, the two began throwing glances in every direction, trying to see if whatever was causing the unpleasant feeling was in the area. Finally, the two glanced down the road leading up to the fortress and were shocked to see Lynn standing at the end of it. They also realized that the reason something had seemed off was because Lynn was currently shouting, his voice a lone drone from where he stood.

"Oh, so you finally arrived, lookout!" the officer shouted, a fist raised in challenge to Lynn.

For a second, Lynn paused his shouting. He craned his neck towards the sound of the officer's voice. A single, small droning note came from Lynn. "What?"

Not able to hear the question, the officer changed his hand and cupped it around his ear, he himself shouting, "What?"

In the distance, Lynn shrugged his shoulders. It looked like he would have to get closer if he wanted to be heard. He cracked his knuckles and neck and then took off in a full sprint. Drawing closer and closer to the fortress, Lynn could hear the lead officer from where he stood on the balcony shouting for snipers. But it was too late, and with one fell swoop, Lynn kicked in the large wooden doors. His kick was so hard, in fact, that he broke the hinges off one of them, sending it crashing to the ground.

Smirking, Lynn said to himself, "Now where's that Bede guy?"

Several floors down, Bede Heilen, chained to the wall of his cell, looked up at the faint sound of the door slamming to the ground. His longish hair fell back to frame his angular face in a white border and his grey uniform clung loosely to him. His eyes darted across the ceiling, as if he would be able to see what had happened through the stone floor.

Licking his cracked lips, he whispered, "What the hell is going on?"


	4. Fulfilling a Debt

_Fulfilling a Debt_

Out of all the semi-large forces Lynn had taken on, the one that served under this branch of the New Straw Hats was probably one of the weaker ones. As he ran through the building, the only person that had posed any sort of problem was the officer who he wasn't able to hear earlier. It took Lynn about ten seconds more than the other men to take down because he had a gun _and _a sword. Lynn had gotten so used to dodging just one thing from every time he ran into someone that he had to fall to the ground to avoid the sword swipe after dodging the bullet. He then proceeded to kick the officer in the head from his position on the floor, knocking him into what he assumed to be a hatrack. Other than that, whenever he met anyone who tried to stop his warpath, he would always leave them concussed, unconscious, or whimpering in pain.

The real problem came with actually trying to _find _Bede. There were so many corridors, staircases, doorways, hallways, columns, archways, and rooms that Lynn could barely tell where he had or had not been. It was like going through a maze, except that the maze had multiple floors and people that were trying to kill him. In the time it took for Lynn to find the staircase leading down to the lower levels, he had found the kitchen, the armory, the food storage, several barracks, the mess hall, a small art gallery, another kitchen, and a dark bedroom where a fat man was snoring away, completely unaware of the chaos Lynn was causing. Lynn closed the door quietly, whispering an apology to the sleeper.

"Of course it's behind a bookshelf," Lynn said.

After leaving the fat man to his rest, Lynn had wandered for a little bit more, finally finding the fortress's library. Taking just a glance, one might have thought that it was just a normal library and moved on. Lynn was just about to do that, too. But as he began to close the door, he glanced once more back into the room and stopped. Apparently there had been enough incidents of men getting lost to warrant a sign that stated: _Lower Level Staircase Behind Third Bookshelf. _Shoving the shelf off the wall, Lynn's search was finally rewarded. There in front of him stood the doorway leading to the floors below and Lynn walked right through.

As Lynn descended, the tunnel began to grow darker and darker until Lynn was left stumbling down the pitch-black stairway. He kept his hand pressed against the cool, stone wall all the way down. Until the wall ended. It appeared that the engineers of the building had thought it would be a _great _idea to continue the stairway a little past the tunnel, and Lynn, hand pressed firmly against nothing now, pitched right into the void.

Tumbling through open air, Lynn twisted his body in an attempt to minimize the damage. Unfortunately, he didn't have as much time as he thought and he ended up cracking his head against the floor. Stars danced in front of his eyes as he tried to sit up. Pain shot through his head and he doubled over again. Sitting still for a moment, Lynn closed his eyes and let the pain slowly ebb away. Finally satisfied that he wouldn't suffer another burst of pain, he once again sat up. Sucking in the cool, cavernous air, he inspected his head for any open wounds until he was sure he could find no bloody patches. Finished with his rudimentary medical check-up, he scrambled to his feet and began feeling the wall for any kind of indication of where he was going. Despite being so far underground, there wasn't the usual roughness that came from cave walls. Instead, in his limited view and with touch alone, the wall appeared to be completely smooth. That is, until he felt something that caused him to groan.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he muttered as he flicked the light switch.

Light flashed to life and the silence was replaced by the low hum of the numerous bulbs that lined the ceiling. Lynn could now see that, just out of his reach in the dark, the hallway was lined by several doors leading to who knows where. Before he checked any of the doors, though, Lynn turned and glanced back up the stairway and was annoyed that it too was brightly lit. Sighing in annoyance, Lynn added it to the ever-growing list of grievances he had with the building's constructors.

Pushing the thought aside, Lynn glanced at the row of doors before him, grimacing slightly when he noticed that none of them were labeled. Sighing, he approached the first door, every step of his echoing off the walls. Reaching the door, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst. There could be enemies past the door, probably stronger than the ones upstairs. Might even have seastone. He couldn't be sure. Whatever was through the door, though, he had to be ready for it. Mind made up he swung the door open to dramatically reveal… a broom closet. Lynn stared into the secret broom closet, unimpressed with its apparent need for secrecy. One of the mops falling over didn't help its case. Turning back to the hallway, Lynn stepped towards the next door, wondering what kind of secrets _that_ door could hold. Another kitchen. Inhaling deeply, Lynn let the door swing shut and moved onto the third door.

As he grabbed the door knob, Lynn couldn't help but groan as he pulled the door open. He quietly muttered to himself, "If I find another stupid kitchen, I swear to god I'm going to-"

Lynn shut up the second the door was open. All thoughts about kitchens of any kind vanished from his brain. His growing list of grievances was no longer forefront in his mind. Even the thought of why he was there in the first place momentarily vanished. Instead, all of his attention in that moment was focused on what stood before him. I mean, who could blame him? Who would expect to find a galleon inside a mountain?

Under different circumstances, the galleon wouldn't have been that impressive. In reality, it was probably about as simple as a galleon could get. And it was too dark to make out anything else about it. For all Lynn knew, it could've been painted a shade of pink and he would be none the wiser. But that didn't matter. What _did _matter though was how the damn thing even got there in the first place.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Lynn took a better look at the cavern. Under his scrutinizing gaze, and after squinting in the near-darkness for at least a minute, he was able to pick up the fact that light seemed to be filtering from around a curve in the wall. He imagined this to be some kind of hidden cove for the people controlling the island, especially considering the flags that hung from the masts. Despite the fact that the ship's mysterious presence was solved, Lynn still had to give credit where credit was due. He was impressed by the piloting skills it would have taken to get a ship of that size through what was probably a tight tunnel.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Lynn stepped further into the underground harbor. From where he was, there wasn't much else to see except what you'd usually see at a regular above-ground dock. Piles of rope were scattered in various places and barrels and crates were stacked high. Walking next to one of these piles, Lynn began to run his hand along the rope's surface, but yanked his hand back. Instead of the rough and coarse surface he had been expecting, Lynn had discovered that the rope had been freshly tarred, leaving sticky remnants on his finger tips. Confused now, Lynn marched over to one of the various crates that remained at ground level and ripped it open. What little light was present glinted back into Lynn's face. Gold, and lots of it, too.

It was too easy. Surely nobody could be that stupid? Slowly, Lynn began lowering his hand into the box. He was still apprehensive about the whole thing, expecting poison spikes or something along those lines to pop out from the golden mass. Caution flew out the window the second his hand made contact. Lynn began sifting through the golden coins, unconsciously counting how much it was all worth. He wasn't looking for anything specifically, if anything at all. He was simply impressed at the wealth that one man had accumulated from one poor island in the middle of the West Blue. Blinking a few times, he realized that he was wasting time and if he was going to take something, he might as well take it.

"I mean," he said, closing his eyes, "If they're just going to leave it out like this, then it's kind of their own fault." His hand shot forward, snatching a single coin from the box. "Damn," he said, turning and walking to the door. He slipped the coin into his pocket. "I always have bad luck with these stupid chance games."

Back in the hallway, Lynn glanced at the remaining three doors and groaned. Marching to the last door, he seriously began thinking about finding the people who designed the building. He wanted to thank them for time well wasted by kicking them in the face. It turned out that the doors _were _labeled. But the labels were just a _shade_ darker than the actual door. The only reason Lynn had been able to see it at all was because the light reflected off the paint, allowing him to see it from his new angle. Lynn couldn't wait to meet the engineers, so he began practicing by kicking the prison entrance's door down.

Light and wood shards burst into the room. All of the creatures that had been in the room beforehand scattered. Bugs, rats, and other things were instantly out of sight. There might have been a snake, too, but it could have also been a centipede. Lynn didn't have time to tell, as it had vanished as well. It was quite easy for them, as the rest of the room that wasn't lit up was left in near blackness. Water was dripping somewhere; you couldn't see it, but you could hear whenever the drop hit the puddle. Lynn couldn't help but shiver at the idea of someone being down there. He didn't even want to think about it. Unfortunately, though, he had to. It was kind of hard to not think about someone being imprisoned in that hell-hole when the person you'd been looking for for at least half an hour was chained to a wall in front of you.

"Who the hell are you?" Bede said, his voice gravelly and low.

He had barely lifted his head when Lynn shattered the door. Instead, he glared at Lynn through a thin veil of his own hair. Despite this, he didn't hide the curious glint in his eyes. Other than that, he didn't move much more. Of course, it would be rather difficult to move when your arms were chained to the wall. With his arms raised in such an extreme way, his clothes hung loosely around him. He wasn't very defined, and whatever skin showed was pale and pulled taut. To Lynn, it seemed ironic that the best doctor the island had to offer looked like the sickliest person there. He quickly backtracked this thought, though, as he had to remind himself where they were standing. Or sitting, in Bede's case.

Smirking, Lynn began to approach Bede. "Nobody important. Just the guy who's here to save your life."

The prison echoed with the sound of rattling chains as Bede used whatever strength he had left to lunge forward. He didn't get far, but the angry look that accompanied the motion caused Lynn to halt in his tracks.

"Like hell you are!" Bede growled, baring his teeth. The curious glint that Lynn had seen before was gone now, and the glare was now the only thing left. The two stood there for a moment, both unsure of what to do next. Lynn had a total look of indifference while Bede shifted his eyes away from Lynn. It seemed conflict was not a part of Bede's nature, and his outburst was already waning. Finally, he let out a sigh and dropped his head so that his hair hung like a curtain.

"Look, I get it," Bede began, the anger gone from his voice, "You're probably here because you think saving me will help the island. But it won't help, and I can't leave since-"

Lynn didn't let him get another word out. "Nope. Not even close."

Bede's head shot back up, and he gave Lynn a confused look. "What?"

Before he had even asked, Lynn had already started walking towards him again. Bede tried to protest it, but Lynn had already started to work on the first chain.

While he did this, he said, "To be honest, I don't give a damn about your island. Hell, I didn't even know it _existed _before I came here. I'm just doing this as a favor for your sister because-"

It was Lynn's turn to be interrupted.

"My sister?" Bede exclaimed, his face full of shock. Lynn looked back at Bede, eyebrow raised. But before he could give a stereotypical witty response, Bede asked, voice full of concern, "Is she alright? She's not injured or anything?"

Lynn paused for a moment, considering whether or not to give one of his usual responses. Instead, he sighed and answered back with a simple, "Yeah, she's alright."

Bede leaned his head against the wall. He sighed as if that little phrase had taken all of the weight off of his shoulders. Unfortunately, the relaxed look made him look a little crazy in Lynn's eyes, since they were still in a metaphorical hell-hole. But the look vanished when he realized that Lynn had undone the last chain.

In his shock, Bede tried to rise to his feet in order to confront Lynn eye to eye but stumbled forward, his legs numb after sitting for so long. He tried to use his arms to get some sense of balance, but they were numb as well. Lynn didn't even move as Bede tumbled back to the ground. He let out a small gasp when he hit the stone floor. He flipped onto his back to look up at the ceiling and at Lynn.

Lynn rolled his eyes. Crouching down, he hitched Bede's arm across his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. It was quite easy, given Bede's size. Without even looking at Bede's face, Lynn could sense the glare that was plastered on his face.

Lynn let out a small sigh. He said, "Listen, I honestly don't care what happens to you. All I have to do is get you out to your sister alive." He paused for a second, a small realization coming onto him. "Hell, you could probably even die in the process of me getting you out of here and I'd be in the clear. I already beat up every single person in this stupid castle on my way to find you, so I definitely got the leader somewhere along the way. Either way," he continued as he began to drag Bede towards the door, "I don't care about you."

Lynn tensed up. He scanned the room, looking for anything that might have triggered his senses. He wasn't sure why, but something had just felt off to him. Without thinking, he spun the two of them so that he was between Bede and the open door. And it wasn't a second too soon, as a gunshot rang out from somewhere in the hallway. At first, Lynn thought that it had just been a warning shot, but the sharp pain quickly began to bite into his left bicep. Gritting his teeth, Lynn let Bede fall to the ground once again, although there was a little less protest than before. He turned to the door, gripping the bullet hole tight to stop the bleeding.

Chuckling, the leader that Lynn had been unable to hear before walked out from behind the doorframe, gun still smoking. "Well now, lookout," he began, still pointing the gun at Lynn, "It appears you got in the way of my bullet. Pretty poor choice on your part, I do say."

The smile disappeared from the leader's face as he realized that Lynn was chuckling, too.

"You really think so?" Lynn said. His hand dropped from the bullet wound, and although it was bleeding, it didn't seem like he was even feeling the pain. "In my opinion, I'd say it was a pretty poor choice for you to shoot at that guy just now," he said, gesturing at Bede, "I mean, the idiot wouldn't have been able to dodge, so what else was I gonna do?" He shook his head in dismay. "Whatever, I guess this is how we'll determine who's the fastest shot in the West Blue."

The leader tilted his head. "What?"

Within a span of only seconds, Lynn had dropped his hand to his holster, pulled out his pistol, and fired. The leader felt the bullet tear through his hair and heard it screech past his ear. He dropped to his knees, letting his gun fall out of his grip along the way. He raised a trembling hand to his head. He traced his fingers along the buzzed trail the bullet had left. With every revelatory stroke, he became even more panicky, going wide-eyed and gasping for air.

Lynn began walking towards him, causing him to lurch back and into the wall. Glaring down at the man, Lynn's gaze softened, but only enough for a smirk. "Wow, I'm disappointed," he said, "Even with that handicap to my shooting arm, you couldn't beat me." He slammed his foot into the side of the man's head. "And I'm a captain, by the way."

Julia's eyes darted to the door. Just moments before, she had been trying to placate all the doubts in her mind. Sure, it might have been a while since Lynn had left, but she could at least put a little trust in him. _I mean, it's not like he doesn't have a hundred million beli bounty for nothing, _she thought. Now though, she stared intently at the door. She wasn't certain, but she thought she had just heard a noise come from somewhere outside. Reaching for the lamp, she gripped tightly onto it as she prepared for the worst. Arms wrapped around each other's shoulders, Lynn and Bede burst through the door.

"Bede!" Julia shouted as she rushed forward to hug him, basically tackling him and Lynn to the ground.

Rising to a sitting position, Lynn rubbed where Julia had hit him to the ground. "Fair, but still unappreciated."

Julia didn't hear Lynn, as she was too preoccupied with looking for any injuries on Bede. "I'm so glad you're safe," she said, lifting his hair to examine his eyes.

Lynn scoffed at the rudimentary examination. "I doubt tackling a malnourished person is too good for their health."

Julia instantly panicked. Apologies began to pour from her mouth. Bede gave a weak chuckle, patting her on the shoulder.

"You don't have to worry," he said, offering her a warm smile, "I'm honestly fine. I could just use some food." He turned to Lynn and the smile disappeared. "What I'm really worried about right now is that bullet in your arm."

Julia's concern shifted straight to Lynn. "You got shot?" she asked while grabbing his arm. She seemed to notice for the first time that he was now sporting a makeshift bandage. She tore it away, revealing the thoroughly soaked shirt sleeve. To Lynn's surprise, she didn't recoil. Instead, she turned and reprimanded Bede for letting him get shot. "Doctors are supposed to make sure people don't get injured."

Bede shook his head. "No, doctors are supposed to _heal_ people who get injured. Also, I don't think doctors are supposed to be manhandling their patients."

Julia dropped Lynn's arm, but before she could open the apology dam again, Lynn was already pacifying her. "It doesn't even hurt that much. Hell, you could even stick your finger in and it wouldn't hurt."

"Well that's good," Bede said, gingerly taking Lynn's arm, "Because I'm going to have to pull that bullet out."

Taking him to the makeshift doctor's office, Bede began to work on Lynn's arm. Lynn complained the entire time. Not from the pain, as he stated numerous times, but from it being a waste of time for him. He stated that it would be cool to have an arm he could attach magnets to as Bede cut away the shirt to get a better look. He said that he could just pull it out later if he felt like it as Bede navigated delicately through the wound with a pair of tweezers. He cried out that if Bede had to amputate his arm that he would punch him in the face as Bede pulled bits of cloth out of the wound along with the bullet. He stated that he could tough out losing some blood as Bede firmly bandaged the arm.

Bede let out a sigh. "Lynn, shut up."

Lynn paused in his tirade. He blinked several times before shrugging. "Alright, doc."

Shaking his head, Bede muttered, "For a Tacken, you sure like to complain a lot." He picked up the bullet and raised it for Lynn to see. It was almost perfectly spherical and had a dark hue to it. "This," Bede began, "Is a lead bullet. Had it been left in your arm, like you had so feverishly demanded, you would have eventually been poisoned to death. Do you understand?"

Lynn sheepishly looked away from Bede, pouting his lips. "Sure, doc."

"Anyway," Bede said, slipping his gloves off into the sink, "You sure did a number on their forces from what I saw. I don't think I'll ever see that many unconscious men again in my life."

Chuckling, Lynn hopped down from the table he had been forced to sit on, nodding in agreement. "Well then, I guess that's that then. It's time for me to start moving on again."

Julia sprang to her feet, a look of shock on her face. "But you said-"

"Yeah, I said I'd get your brother," Lynn interrupted, "Not my problem that you changed your mind about what you wanted out of me when I was halfway out the door." Lynn began to open the door, letting natural light fill the room. "And like I said to Bede, I beat up every single mook in that building, so I probably got the big bad somewhere along the way."

For a second, Julia was about to argue some more. But then she realized that what he said could very well be true. With the way he described it, it sounded like decently solid logic. And if even Bede was backing him up…

"One of the men you fought…" the old man began, shocking the three as he had been silent the entire time, "Was one of them fat?"

Realizing that the question was directed at him, Lynn took his time to ponder it. He thumbed his way through his memories, thinking if any of the people he knocked out fit the bill. Sure, there had been a couple chubby ones and a couple not-so-muscular ones, but he wouldn't necessarily describe them as _fat_ per se.

Snapping his fingers, Lynn finally came to his conclusion. "Yeah, there was a fat guy in his room. He was sleeping, though, so I…" Lynn's conclusion quickly dwindled into a frustrating realization. "That was their leader, wasn't it?"

The old man nodded. "His name is Adam Wechsler, and he is the one that runs this island. Those other three were his lieutenants"

Lynn couldn't help but groan. Here he was, standing in the middle of some unknown island, unsure of what day it was, and now he was being told he did a bad job at beating people up. _What a Monday, _he assumed.

But then a thought came to him. He didn't _have_ to do anything. Sure, it might seem like a jerk move to people, but he was a wanted criminal. The longer he stayed in an area, the more trouble was bound to come, so he was basically doing a favor for them anyway by leaving. They might try to argue that he owed them after Bede got the bullet out of his arm, but he had made it very clear in probably a paragraph's worth of complaints that he didn't want him to. Honestly, he didn't owe these people anything and they should really get it through their thick-

"Did you know," Bede began, throwing off Lynn's train of thought, "Two people were killed by Wechsler's men before I was captured?"

Lynn was confused. It was an unexpected change in conversation after what they had just been talking about. He knew Bede was working an angle, but he wasn't sure which one. So, he responded the only way he could. "And?"

"It means," Julia continued as understanding dawned on her, "That the Monkey bastard is willing to kill people to capture, and probably execute, my brother."

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Lynn said.

Bede let out a sigh. "I'm telling you that by freeing me, you've put this entire island in danger. You may think you don't owe _us, _but you definitely owe the entire island's population."

The siblings could almost see the gears click into place as Lynn realized what they were talking about. Lynn himself felt like an idiot for taking so long to figure out their angle. He racked his brains to figure out some kind of excuse not to. The small, devilish smile that Julia wore didn't help him think. Finally, after exhausting every possible out he could think of in a minute, Lynn let out a sigh of defeat.

"Fine, I'll do it."

Julia's smile grew into a full grin while Bede's face softened. Even the old man's gaze seemed a little less harsh.

Voice full of relief, Bede said, "Alright then, once we give your arm about a week's time to heal, we can begin plotting out our attack and-"

"What are you talking about?" Lynn said, cutting Bede off, "You've already made me feel stupid today, and I'd rather settle my debt as quick as possible, so I'm just going to go right back up there and beat that guy unconscious."

Bede, who had kept his face fairly unemotional during the exchange, went wide-eyed. "Are you insane? You may claim that you can't feel the pain, but the damage is still there. With a bullet wound like that… hell, giving you only a week to heal is stretching it. You'd have to go through probably months of physical therapy, and even then-"

Lynn slammed his injured arm's fist into Bede's face.

The attack had been so sudden that Julia jerked back, her face twisting from surprise to shock in an instant. The grandfather sprang to his feet, ignoring his aching bones as a look of anger lit up his eyes. Bede himself had been flung back against the wall where he slid to the floor, dazed. Coming out of his stupor a little, he felt at his nose until he was satisfied.

Slicking his hair back, Lynn gave Bede an exasperated look. "How's that for physical therapy, doc?"

Senses fully collected, Bede slowly rose back to his feet, giving Lynn his own irritated look. For a second, the two did nothing but stare at each other, matching their emotions tit for tat. Julia wasn't sure if she should or even could say anything to get either of them to back down. From what she'd seen of Lynn, he seemed stubborn to the _n_th degree and he wouldn't back down easily. Bede, on the other hand, she knew would never let an insult like that to his profession fly, despite the fact that he always seemed so passive. She wasn't sure what would win; Lynn's adamancy or Bede's pride. In the end, though, it seemed that neither won, as Bede finally spoke up.

"Then I guess I'll have to go with you then."

Lynn had to take a step back at that one. Even the anger disappeared from his face. Once again, Bede had caught him off balance.

Bede continued while he still had an opening. "If you're so insistent on going up there and fighting again, then I guess I'm going to have to make sure you don't kill yourself in the process."

Realizing what Bede was saying, Lynn couldn't help but let his cocky grin slide back into place. Things seemed to finally be getting back into place. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad Monday after all.

"Alright then, doc," Lynn said, "Glad you're finally helping me with my debt to Frank. But I hope you realize now that I won't be taking another bullet for you."

And as sudden as their entrance had been, the two were already out the door. Julia and her grandfather didn't even have time to protest the quick decision the two had come to. Instead, Julia was left wondering over one simple question.

_Who the hell is Frank?_


	5. A Declaration of War

_A Declaration of War_

"So, do you have any semblance of a plan as of what you're going to do?" Bede asked as he wiped sweat from his brow.

The two had been walking for about five to ten minutes at that point. Having left the town behind some time ago, they had also left behind the occasional shade the buildings had provided. As had been made clear to Lynn upon questioning, most of the island's trees had been cleared away in order to build supports for the mines far below the surface. This meant that the sun could freely bear down on them, despite being lower in the sky.

Lynn shook his head, giving Bede a sidelong smirk. "Nope. Just gotta wing it, I guess."

Bede sighed. For some reason, he had hoped that the guy who had tried to refuse necessary medical attention would have come up with a plan.

For about another minute, the two continued to walk in silence. Strangely enough, though, there wasn't really any tension to it. Lynn pondered this for a moment. He was used to awkward moments of quiet, considering he usually caused them. For a second, his mind floated the idea of companionship, but he dashed it away. He had just met the guy, and he didn't really feel like making any new friends this soon, anyway. Despite this, he could definitely feel some kind of camaraderie between them. He mentally shrugged. He decided just to chalk it up to sharing a mutual goal. Not like anything would come of this temporary alliance.

As his mind wandered again, another thought came to him. Clearing his throat, Lynn looked back at Bede. "Actually, if you have any information on whether or not this Alex guy has a devil fruit, I'd appreciate it," he said.

Bede glanced back down at Lynn, raising an eyebrow. It seemed that whatever Lynn did or said would be in complete contradiction to his previous action. Even his appearance seemed to contradict who he was as a person. Or maybe he just expected someone from the Tackens to be taller. Whatever the case, he hoped that that was Lynn's pattern. He honestly couldn't tell at this point.

"No, I don't really know myself," Bede said, "All I can say for sure is that he's a cruel bastard."

Lynn couldn't help but chuckle. "Strong language for a medical professional, wouldn't you say?"

Bede shook his head, responding coldly, "If you knew what this guy has done, you wouldn't be laughing."

Lynn sighed. Another reason the two couldn't be friends. Bede was just too serious. "Alright, fine," he said, using his hand to comb at his hair, "But save the pity party for later. We're here."

Just as it had before, the castle loomed over the surrounding hills, casting a dark shadow on the land around it. Flags furled in the wind, cannons pointed down from the battlements, and spearheads lined the walls. And yet, it was quiet. Not a single soul could be seen manning any of the prepared weaponry. There wasn't even a pompous lieutenant shouting challenges from his easy chair. Surely some of the men that Lynn had left injured or unconscious had recovered at that point?

The pair continued their march towards the fortress' door, fully expecting gun and cannon-fire to be suddenly launched in their general direction. But it never came. The tension mounted as they approached the door. And the strangest part of this entire occurrence was now right in front of them.

"You're telling me," Lynn began, the annoyance clear in his voice, "That somebody took the time to fix this huge door, and then they don't even bother sticking around to fight?"

Despite its large size and thoroughly shattered hinges, the tower gate had indeed returned back to its place. While Lynn fumed about the lack of enemy presence, Bede knelt to examine the door. Leaning in, he fixed his gaze on one of the hinges and was puzzled to see a lack of damage. If it had simply been welded, especially as speedily as the door had apparently been fixed, there would have been evidence. But the hinge was clean, as if it had always remained in place. Bede turned to relay this information, but was cut off as Lynn began to pound on the door.

"Alright, I know somebody's got to be in there!" Lynn shouted, basically slamming his fist against the wood, "I think I get the message you're trying to send, though! I'm being polite now, so just come on out and take your ass-kicking like a man!"

"Lynn, stop!" Bede blurted out, grabbing Lynn's arm. In response, Lynn's eyebrow rose, asking the question without needing to say anything. "I'm not sure about this…" Bede tapered off. He had noticed something else about the wall, a sort of shaped indent that seemed to run up its entire face. To Bede, they looked similar to another kind of indent, but the idea of how they could just appear on a wall like that seemed absurd to him…

"Listen," Lynn said, releasing Bede's grip with a squeeze, "You're the one who said they wanted revenge on this guy. I'm only here because I have a debt to repay. So if you get cold feet, I'm out. Do you understand?"

Bede gave a meek nod. He knew he or his family could do nothing to cause permanent change. As much as he hated it, they needed Lynn. He couldn't get scared just because of some wall marks that looked similar to stuff he'd seen in the doctor's office.

"Cool." Lynn gave another smirk. "Now I'm just going to go in the there and kick Wechsler's ass and then I'll be done with this island and-"

_Crack._

Before either could react, Lynn was blasted in the chest. He tumbled head over heels back down the path. Bede, in a moment of panic, shouted for Lynn and raced after him. Lynn rolled to a stop and tried to catch his breath. Instead, he winced in pain. Catching up to him, Bede saw the reaction and felt at Lynn's side. He turned and nodded when he reached his conclusion. Lynn's ribs were broken.

Groaning, Lynn clambered to his feet, ignoring Bede's protests. Turning to the door, he was able to see what had hit him so hard. Jutting from the shattered wood, a cannon had emerged, still smoking. "You know," Lynn began, gritting his teeth as he spoke, "Not many people get that good of a shot on me. So, props to you, old timer."

"Thanks," a voice said, ringing out across the path, "I wasn't sure you'd actually fall for that one, boy."

The two couldn't help but take a step back. Instead of coming from behind the door, like the had expected, Wechsler's voice seemed to come from the door itself. And, just as they thought this, they watched as the door seemed to fold in on itself. It began to morph together, becoming one solid shape. And soon enough, they were confronted with Alex Wechsler in all of his fattened glory.

"Huh, so you did eat a devil fruit," Lynn said. He straightened his posture, leaving Bede even more astounded. Lynn looked like he felt no pain at all.

Wechsler gave Lynn a smirk, although it was a little lost in his jowls. Apparently, he had also not taken the time to change, as the pajamas he wore seemed to indicate. Overall, if it wasn't for his little transformation, he would have seemed to be a fairly average man. At least, compared to the lieutenants he lorded over. Alex cracked his knuckles and began to plod his way towards them.

"Now listen, boy," Wechsler said, "I'd usually make no big deal of killing people like you, but..." He came to a halt, sizing up Lynn. "I owe a great debt to my captain, and killing you would go to great lengths to fulfilling it." The sneer returned to his lips. "You know all about that, don't you, Tacken?"

Lynn returned the smirk with one of his own. "I sure do. I'm happy to see that someone finally gets my point of view."

As he talked, Lynn motioned at Bede. It was clear what he meant. Reluctantly, Bede listened and backed off. The two could feel, as if it was in the air itself, that they were only a step away from the fight breaking out.

And break out it did. Without a moment's hesitation Wechsler fired at Bede's feet. Bede, who had already been inching his way away, yelped and stumbled into a fall. In a flash, Lynn pulled out his own gun and fired. He was the one fighting, not Bede. He just hoped the bullet in Wechsler's skull made that clear.

But, seconds later, Wechsler was still standing. In fact, he had a wide smile.

Lynn was baffled. In a moment of doubt, he glanced at his pistol. He shook off the idea as soon as it came. At the beginning of that day, he had had six bullets. After making that lieutenant piss himself, he had five. Basic subtraction. So, unless he was the unluckiest bastard in the world, he should have fired. He even felt the recoil of the bullet discharge. He couldn't understand how, with a clear shot to the head, Alex Wechsler was still standing.

That's when he heard it. The sound of crunching metal. At first, it seemed absurd. _I mean, _he thought, _What kind of power is _that_?_ But as he stared at Wechsler, he noticed that, while smiling, his mouth had been moving. He had been chewing.

"Gotta say," he said, licking his lips, "I appreciate the use of a lead alloy. Pure lead doesn't really sit well in my stomach."

"Okay, so... your power is to eat stuff?" Lynn said.

Alex gave a grin, clearly happy to talk about his ability. He continued, "Not just stuff, _any _stuff. This Munch Munch Fruit is part of the reason I owe a debt to my captain. Real devil fruits like this are rare nowadays and they pack a lot more power than the artificial kind. Plus," he said, raising his arm to point at Lynn, "Anything I eat becomes a part of my body, free to use."

Like gelatin, Wechsler's hand melted and reformed, shaping into a gun. Knowing what was about to happen, Lynn rolled to the side as Alex let loose a barrage of bullets. Dirt and dust were kicked up. The path was consumed in the cloud. At some point, Wechsler had begun to laugh. It didn't matter, though, as long as Lynn ended up dead.

The doctor, on the other hand, was still an issue. He had been a thorn in his side for years. Something about avenging his father through helping the community, or whatever. All he knew is that, if he were to live, the original plan of leaving the islanders to die off would fail. There would be various testimonies, and all of them would lend to his capture. If he wanted to continue serving his captain, he couldn't allow that. Satisfied with his killing of Lynn, Wechsler turned his gun to Bede's general direction. The dust still obscured his view, but he could still fire.

"Hey, Wechsler!"

Hearing his name, he instinctively turned towards the source. He was about to deliver a snark-filled "What?", but was instead met with a stone to the head. He reeled back and his hand morphed back to grip at the pain. He let out a snarl. The dust parted to reveal Lynn who, other than a few tears in his clothes, was still alive.

"I'm not dead yet," he said, a smirk spread across his face, "And I thought I made it clear that the doctor isn't a part of this."

Enraged at this defiance, Alex turned his hand back on Lynn, ready to fire. But Lynn had vanished. Wechsler faltered in his step. It was like he had suffered some kind of memory lapse. One second, he was there, the next he had disappeared. But he didn't have to wonder long, as a sharp pain from behind soon replaced the confusion. More pain followed as he was forced into the ground.

Lynn, crossing his arms, let out a low whistle. Where Alex had once stood, there was now a new hole in the earth. "Guess I hit him a bit harder than I expected," Lynn said, slicking back his hair.

Bede simply stared. When the battle began, nothing had seemed to be going in Lynn's favor. Yet here he was now, standing over his opponent who he had literally driven into the dirt. Bede was dumbfounded.

Lynn glanced over and gave Bede a small smile. He said, "You know, I told your sister earlier I could be pretty fast when I want to be."

At the mention of his sister, Bede snapped out of his stupor. It wasn't just them that wanted Wechsler beaten. Both his sister and grandfather were waiting. And he had a question that needed to be answered.

"Is he, you know... done?" Bede asked. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He wrung his hands the entire time.

Looking back down at the hole, Lynn thought for a second, and then turned back to Bede. "I mean, probably. Even if he was still conscious, there really isn't much you can do to get out of something like that."

Bede solemnly nodded. He may have been a doctor, but he most certainly didn't feel qualified enough to judge a possible medical conclusion. Better to leave it to leave it to Lynn's opinion in this scenario. "So, that's it, then?" Lynn nodded. He sighed, looking back up at the castle. Bede shook his head. He couldn't believe he had resigned himself to death in that place. Bede turned back to Lynn and gave his own nod. "Shall we then?" he said as a smile creeped across his lips, "I've got to tell my family the good news."

Celebrations were cut short, though, as the ground began to shake. Bede stumbled forward, waving his arms to try and regain balance. Without saying anything, Lynn stepped forward and caught one, stabilizing him. Bede gave a smile of appreciation, but Lynn wore a look of complete annoyance.

"Just when I thought I was finally done..." he said, exasperation seeping through his words.

Without warning, the path behind them burst open. The two were blown back several meters before scraping to a halt. Dirt and debris rained down from the sky and landed all around them. The two coughed as dust was forced into their lungs. Lynn staggered back to his feet. Wiping at his eyes, he blinked several times, trying to focus in on what had just emerged from the ground. But before he could see, the area in front of him exploded. Slammed back into the path, Lynn's concentration was broken. All at once, his accumulated pain flared up again. It took all he had not to audibly groan. Tears began to well up, but he quickly blinked them away. _There's time for that later, _Lynn thought as he came to a sitting position.

"Sorry about that, boy!" Wechsler cried out from somewhere above, "Hard to aim with all this dust!"

As he said this, the dust began to dissipate. In time, the world became a lot clearer and Wechsler finally came into view.

Staring up at him, Lynn took one good look at his body and said, "This bastard _ate _his way out."

Standing nearly twice as tall as before, Wechsler loomed over them, that same sneer lining his lips. But his body was different, this time. However long he had been munching for, his form reflected what he'd been eating. A mixture of stone and ground filled in any gaps that were left by his sudden growth. With every move he made, clumps of dirt fell from his body. And to top it all off, there were cannons in his shoulders.

Lynn sighed. This fight had gone on long enough.

Rising to his feet, Lynn brushed dust from his shoulders. He had had enough time to focus and all the pain was back in check. He straightened out his shirt, but frowned when he looked down at it. A long rip had formed up the side. He shrugged his shoulders, though, and instead chose to focus on his hair, which had turned a shade darker thanks to the dust. But he wasn't there for cosmetics, as Wechsler's shouting reminded him.

But instead of taking on a sense of urgency, Lynn just gave Wechsler a bored look. "You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

Astounded by this brazenness, all Wechsler could shout back was "What?"

Raising an arm, Lynn pointed it open-palmed towards Alex's abdomen. All around them, the air began to crackle. Bede looked wildly back and forth. Feeling a prickling sensation, he looked down at his arm and saw that his hairs were standing on end. There was the faint smell of ozone in the air. At first, Wechsler was just as confused. He glanced at the sky to check if it was still clear. But his confusion was soon replaced by dread, as he stared in horror at Lynn, understanding dawning on him.

"You just made yourself a bigger target," Lynn stated.

In a flash of light, the air itself seemed to explode. Heat washed over Bede as, for the second time that day, he was hurled backwards. Pain washed all over his body as he came to a rolling stop. Coming to his hands and knees, Bede took shaky breath after shaky breath. His ears had begun to ring. His mouth tasted like he had taken a bite out of copper. And the worst part of it all was that he couldn't even see.

Blinded by the light, Bede suddenly found himself in a world that was way too white. He could barely make out any distinct shapes and staring too long brought pain to his eyes. Taking one last rattling breath, Bede climbed to his feet. From what he could tell, he had been tossed down the hill the path rose from. Turning towards the incline, Bede began his walk back up the hill. As he climbed, his eyesight began to return to him and the ringing in his ears grew fainter. By the time he reached the top, both senses had pretty much returned to him. Just in time to hear Lynn and Alex's conversation.

"So, you've been planning on doing this for months, now?" Lynn asked. He was crouched down next to Wechsler, who had returned to his previous size.

Bede's heart rate spiked. He rushed to Lynn's side and gasped out, "He's still alive?"

Lynn, as if he hadn't just caused a massive explosion, simply nodded, stating, "Oh yeah, there was too much ground mixed into him to cause real permanent damage. But that lightning still did temporarily paralyze him... I think." Lynn frowned again. His eyebrows furrowed together. "I've only ever done something like that on animals that I was planning on eating, so I'm not sure about it being temporary."

Bede had a blank look. That's right. It _was _lightning. Lynn had created a lightning strike. From the palm of his hands. Bede's face darkened. "You could have done that the entire time?"

"That? Yeah." Lynn scratched his head. "The devil fruit I ate allows me to control electricity to a minor degree. I can even make electric-based blasts."

Wide-eyed now, Bede glanced between Lynn and Alex. "_Minor?_"

But before Bede could get any more on Lynn's case, Wechsler began to groan again.

"Is there any reason you wanted to know where my crew went?" he moaned out, a little smoke escaping his mouth.

"Nah, I was just curious," Lynn said as he rose to his feet, "You guys seemed like you were getting ready to leave, so I wanted to know what that was all about." Glancing at Bede, he saw the question forming in his mind. He motioned, _save it for later,_ and Bede nodded in understanding.

And with Lynn's questioning done, tears began to flow from Wechsler's eyes. The realization of his loss had set in. "I failed my captain," he said, unable to clean his eyes, "I couldn't stop you and now you're going to challenge him on the Grand Line..."

Bede felt a chill go down his spine when the weight of Wechsler's words hit him. The thought that Lynn would travel to the Grand Line had never occurred to him. From what he'd seen of the pirate, it didn't seem like something that would interest him. He glanced at Lynn, who remained silent. But before either of them could speak, Wechsler began to let out a wheezing laugh.

Between coughs, he began to speak. "Why am I worrying? You will never defeat him. He is the brightest light in this world, and he will be its conqueror." A weak sneer appeared on his lips. "And not only that, but you don't even carry the 'Will of D'!"

It must have taken all he had left to say that, because Wechsler's breathing had turned to panting. He stared bug-eyed at Lynn. He was still quiet. Bede looked at his companion as well. He couldn't see any shift of mood on his face. In fact, there didn't appear to be any mood or emotion. Lynn's face had gone blank. Bede was about to question it, but Lynn knelt down at Wechsler's side.

"Listen, Adam," he said, his voice completely neutral, "You said earlier that you owe a debt to your captain. Let's just say I'm in a similar situation." He regained his smirk and returned to his feet. "So, there's nothing in this world that's going to stop me from getting the One Piece. Not you, not your crewmates, and certainly not your captain. Now, I would run through the 'rules to fighting me', but we're a little too late for that." And with that, he slammed his fist down into Wechsler. He was defeated.


	6. Moving On

_Moving On_

That night, the celebrations seemed to shake the island. Lights had been strung all throughout the streets. Food that had been saved for future meals was used to supply the feast. Music was being played on whatever instruments were present on the island. More alcohol was probably consumed that night than any other in that island's entire history. And when the barrels began to run dry, the castle was raided to ensure a constant flow.

Hours before that, the island had actually been shaking. Fearing for their lives, the people had all ran out of their homes, thinking it was an earthquake. The flash of light didn't help matters. But the biggest surprise was yet to come. For as they stood outside their homes, they watched, in complete shock, as Lynn and Bede dragged Wechsler into town. Charred and clearly unconscious, he had been defeated. And not only that, but the two had fashioned a makeshift muzzle out of chains. He wouldn't be able to hurt them anymore. The celebration soon began.

Now, as the night was winding down, only the most enduring of spirits remained. And those who didn't drink much. Leaning back, Lynn let out a contented sigh. Not only was his stomach full, but he had finally managed to take a shower. Of course, the clothes he was given weren't the best, but he couldn't exactly complain. He could handle the tank-top for a bit, but he still wished they had something other than capris.

_At least I have an actual comb now, _he thought, raising it to fix a loose strand.

"You know, I think that's the third time I've seen you messing with your hair tonight," a female voice said.

Lynn glanced up. He was met with Julia's stare. She had her arms crossed and one of her eyebrows was raised. Throughout the night, she had been mostly surrounded by friends. At several points in the night, she had tried to sneak a drink, but Bede had always been there to stop her. So, now that she was trying to speak with some kind of authority… well, Lynn couldn't help but laugh.

"What, couldn't keep your eyes off me?" he said, smirking up at her.

In an instant, her arms dropped and she averted her gaze. "You didn't have to put it like that, you know." This only made Lynn laugh more. She sighed, "You're an asshole," and then proceeded to join him on the ground.

For a while, the two sat in silence. Occasionally, a passing drunk would stumble into view. They'd watch them for a bit, offer a greeting, and then watch them tumble out of sight. Apparently, the bar Lynn had made a mess of never fixed their window. Off in the distance, they could hear its piano being sloppily played. Lynn's brow twitched every time a chord was played wrong.

That's when Julia spoke up. "So, Lynn…"

He turned to Julia, a look of relief in his eyes. "Yeah?"

Julia paused. Her gaze fell to the ground as she thought. She knew what she wanted to ask. In fact, it was pretty simple. But she wasn't sure how to phrase it.

"No."

Julia looked back at Lynn, the confusion etched in her face. "What?"

"I'm not gonna let you join my crew."

Julia was dumbfounded. And it seemed her face reflected that, as Lynn blinked a couple of times. But before he could offer an apology – or at least she hoped it was supposed to be one – she stated, "Why would I ever want to be on your crew?"

Lynn, caught off guard, stared. But he recovered quickly and let out another laugh. "I don't know, probably cause you're weird like that?"

Julia's face shifted once again, this time to offense. "Says the guy who can create lightning."

"Nobody's perfect, I guess."

The two then returned to their communal silence. That's when they realized the night had become quiet as well. The town had seemed to finally fall into a state of calm. Off in the distance, the lapping of waves against the shore could be heard. Now that the future didn't seem so dismal, Julia began to wonder…

"Oh yeah, there is something I've got to know," she said, perking up from her thoughts.

"Yeah," Lynn replied, "And what's that?"

"Well, you said earlier that you couldn't feel that bullet anymore, right?" She paused, letting Lynn nod confirmation. "Is that because of your devil fruit, since you can control electricity?"

As she spoke, a smile appeared on Lynn's face. "Yeah," he said, stretching his fingers out, "With my power, it includes my body's electrical impulses. That means, if I don't want to feel pain, I just have to concentrate a little and _bam _it's gone." As he said this, yellow sparks danced across his hands, causing his fingers to flex in time.

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Julia responded, "I mean, if you can't feel the pain, you won't know how much danger you're in."

"True," Lynn said, leaning back on his arms, "But I like having a clear head. Plus, I don't usually get hurt like I did today. Wechsler just surprised me is all."

"You know," Julia said, her eyes becoming a squint, "That cockiness is going to get you killed."

"Like I'll be the one dying on my journey." The smirk had returned.

"You sure will be if you're not taking me or Bede."

"You two would only drag me down. Plus, Bede is way too serious for me." Lynn glanced out at the street, imagining the people that had been there less than an hour ago. "Besides, I don't think Bede has a reason to leave this island."

Lynn wasn't the only one who had stayed dry that night. Well, other than Julia. Bede had spent his night talking to the miners. Especially the sicker ones. Throughout the party, he had tried to pry as much information on their conditions as possible. He didn't get much, since they still had enough sense to not dampen the mood. That didn't stop him, though. Any info was good to him, and he collected it all in one of his notebooks. The last time Lynn had seen Bede he was passed out in a chair, clutching his notes to his chest.

Coming to his senses, he thought he heard Julia murmur something. He tried questioning her on it, but she waived it off. Just a slip of the tongue, nothing important. Her pursed lips told Lynn otherwise. He sighed, turning his gaze back on the street. She was right, it _wasn't _important. At least, not to Lynn. He looked back down at the girl. She seemed so small from where he stood. He asked her whether they would be able to help the islanders. Her gaze dropped to the ground. She thought for a moment, then looked back at him and shook her head. Lynn let out another sigh. There was nothing he could do, either. Even if there was, he didn't have any reason to. He had done everything he needed to for these people. Their problems weren't his to deal with. Now was the time to start looking into moving on.

Lynn rose to his feet while Julia lazily watched. Noticing dust on his new clothes, he moved to brush them off. Like a deer in headlights, he stopped dead in his tracks. His mind, however, was racing. His new clothes. The clothes he had been given. For defeating Wechsler. Which he had done in order to pay back a debt. Which had come from him trying to get out of _another _debt. Which meant…

_Shit._

Confusion had returned to Julia's face. "What?" she asked, tilting her head.

Lynn didn't respond at first. Instead, he took a deep breath and proceeded to clean his clothes. Straightening his stance, he brought the comb to his hair. His head was mulling for an excuse. But he was out of them and Julia was still waiting for a response.

"Oh, nothing," he said, grinning down at her, "I think I'm going to hit the sack, if you know what I mean."

Julia didn't say anything, but her face contorted into a look of disgust. The reaction he was hoping for. Tossing a wave over his shoulder, he began to walk back up the street. He knew she wouldn't be bothering him for the rest of the night, and he needed all the time he could scrape together. He only had tonight, and there was only one person on that island who could help him with his plan.

"Oh, Tacken. Didn't expect you to show up," the old Mr. Heilen said, returning to his book.

"Yeah, well, if you weren't here, I would have checked the island's graveyard."

"Oh, har-har."

Closing the door behind him, Lynn blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust to the room's light. The lamp that he had knocked over earlier now shined with a warm glow. The same couldn't be said for Mr. Heilen.

Without looking up, Mr. Heilen motioned to a chair across from him. Lynn hesitated. He could feel a shiver go down his spine. Despite his age, Julia's grandfather seemed to have this sort of presence about him. That of one who commanded authority and respect. Without arguing, Lynn sat down. The two stared intently at each other. Now that they were eye to eye, the aura was even stronger. The intended effect, no doubt. All it did, though, was confirm to Lynn what Mr. Heilen had once been.

"So, you used to be a Marine, right?" Lynn asked, trying to match the gaze.

Heilen's eyes went wide and his domineering veil was torn down. "How could you tell?" he sputtered out.

Lynn sank into his chair, replying, "Well, you did say earlier that you would have shot me if you had known I was a Tacken. Figured you had some kind of grudge for something."

Mr. Heilen let out a sigh. He turned his gaze to the ceiling. As he stared, his eyes followed the paneling. There, built into the surface, was a trapdoor. He had never let anyone, not even his own children or grandchildren, up there. It would be too painful to bear. A passage of his life that he would much rather leave behind.

"Well it's true," he said, his eyes returning to Lynn's, "I did used to be a Marine. However, I'd say my grudge more falls on them than your family, now. It wasn't their fault the World Government was so corrupt." He paused, his face slightly drooping. "But it is my fault that this island hates the Navy."

The two let the room go quiet. But it wasn't the moment of silence Lynn shared with Julia. Heilen had just aired his thoughts, and now all they had to do was process them. This was an awkward silence. Lynn was, however, an expert at breaking them.

"Well, you don't have to worry about the Marines being corrupt nowadays," he said, drawing Mr. Heilen's attention back to him. He smirked, pointing his thumb to his chest, stating, "Because I used to be a Marine myself."

Mr. Heilen's eyelids flew open. He shoved a finger in his ear and started wiggling it around. There must have finally been something that had gone with his hearing. Nonsense had started coming out of Tacken's mouth and he had to scrape out whatever was making him hear it. Coming up empty, he realized his mouth had been open the entire time, and he closed it with a _clomp. _Lynn, on the other hand, had kept the same dramatic smirk.

"Yep, I was a Marine," he said, scratching his head, "Well, I was actually a chore boy, but I was still in training. I actually joined because I had heard my dad had joined. So, surprise for you, that's two Tackens in the Navy. I just wanted to see if there was a good enough reason to…" The words seemed to catch in his throat. A shadow seemed to pass over his face. But it passed as quickly as it came, and with a cough he was continuing on. "Anyway, I don't think I can think of a single bad memory of the Marines. I made a lot of good friends, during my time with them."

"Oh?" Heilen responded, letting Lynn's pause slide, "And why did you leave the Marines if it was so hunky-dory?"

"Oh, that's because they tried to execute me."

Mr. Heilen crashed back in his seat. "_What?_"

Lynn chuckled. "Oh yeah, once they found out I was a Tacken, they tried to give me an impromptu execution. Though, I did manage to get away thanks to a pirate attack," he said, his face softening, "The thing is, I don't really hold it against them."

"Really? Even when they tried to kill you?"

"Well, I _did _have the name of a famous group of pirates attached to me."

Mr. Heilen shook his head. Truly, Lynn was perhaps the oddest individual he had encountered in his life. He was both free-spirited and willing to chain himself to a cause. If the right motivation was there, at least. He smiled at the thought of what it would be like sailing with him. But something still didn't add up.

"Why are you telling me all of this," he asked, shifting in his seat, "You didn't have to come here at all tonight, yet you're here. Do you have a reason for this?"

Lynn leaned back in his chair, smirk on full display. His eyes seemed to glint as he spoke. "Because, old man, I've got a plan that'll get me off this island and get these people the help they need."

About an hour later, the night was completely dead. Not a soul on the island was awake or even remotely conscious. Save for one shadow. Racing through the halls of the now abandoned castle, they had no need to hide their intent. They were on the hunt. Entering yet another office, they tore through cabinets and drawers. They knew what they were looking for and they were getting exasperated. Just as they were about to leave, their eyes flicked to the corner of the room. There it was. A transponder snail.

Marching over to it, they prodded it awake. Once it was, they quickly dialed in a number, waiting as the snail began to putter. Hearing the click on the other end, the person began to recite, as if they had practiced it, "I'd like to report the presence of pirates on this island. Specifically, that of one Lynn Tacken and a member of the Straw Hat Armada."

There was immediately shouting on the other end. Scuffling noises could be heard in the background along with the ringing of more transponder snails. Returning to the call, the responder asked, "What are the island's coordinates, there will be a warship out there by tomorrow morning. Is there any additional information you can provide?"

"Yes, there are many sick individuals on this island," the shadow said, their voice remaining at a low tone, "And also, he has a devil fruit."


	7. A Ripe World

_A Ripe World_

The warship appeared at midday. On the open water, it stood taller than the island. Its smoke stacks rose high above the town and even almost dominated the stronghold. The water wheels on either side were now calm, having churned at the sea all night to arrive there. But the same couldn't be said about the vessel's crew. A small platoon had already descended from the ship's prow and were now on their way to the island. The townsfolk who had managed to get over their headaches were the first to see them make landfall.

"The Marines are here!"

"Hide the children!"

"Grab what you can and arm yourselves!"

These shouts soon filled the streets as the town was roused from its sleep. There was no time to prepare. They grabbed whatever they could. Brooms, chair legs, and even the occasional pickaxe could be seen in the crowds. Enraged and invigorated, the mob flowed towards the beach, where they formed a human wall. They were prepared to bar the Marines access to their island with their lives.

The reaction was clearly an unexpected one. The Marines who had already stepped out of the boat glanced back at their comrades. Murmurs were shared among them as they threw stares at crowd. One even plopped back down in their seat. This was met with a quick smack to the head from their captain. The man shook his head and sighed. He would be the voice of reason, it seemed. The Marine captain marched towards the crowd, hoping their leader would step out to meet him. Instead, the throng tensed itself together. Weapons were even raised. The captain's gaze flew to heaven, but he still halted a safe distance from the crowd.

Clearing his throat, he called out, "We have received a report that there is pirate presence on this island."

At these words, the crowd began to buzz. Surely the Marines couldn't have possibly known about Lynn and Wechsler? Because, if they did, that could only mean...

"However," the captain continued, "We have also been told that many citizens of this island are in medically poor condition. So, before we perform any investigation, I would like to request that those who are afflicted meet with the doctors I have brought with me in order to be treated."

The crowd's gaze followed the captain's motion. Without even realizing it, several of the Marines had already begun setting up temporary sick bays. Each area was separated by a linen curtain and contained a fold-up cot along with a bag full of medical supplies. The remaining Marines who had come with them stood by, replacing parts of their uniforms with the necessary equipment.

Despite all this, though, there was still doubt in the crowd. All of it seemed too convenient. Just when the pirate that had been plaguing their lives had finally been defeated, the Marines swoop in to clean up. The islanders had a good understanding for their own distaste of the Marines. It seemed unlikely that one of them would report anything to them. So, that just left the possibility of...

"Thank you, gentlemen. But I must recommend moving your operating spaces somewhere more sanitary. The beach isn't exactly known for that."

The mob sent up a collective gasp. Walking through the middle of the throng was Mr. Heilen. Many had only ever seen him slouched in a chair or bent in an awkward stance. Now, though, his back was straight and he moved with purpose. He easily cleared six feet with his spine drawn up. The crowd parted before the aged doctor. He was now a larger than life figure, and the old Vice Admiral coat only accentuated this feeling.

The Marine captain flashed a smile, his face softening. Stepping forward, he extended a hand to Mr. Heilen, who readily shook it. "Thank you, sir. It is good to see such an esteemed figure on this island. Am I to assume that you are the leader of this place?"

Heilen shrugged his shoulders. "I'm the oldest, so I guess that's what I am."

Bowing his head, the Marine captain averted his gaze, stating, "Then I must apologize to you, sir, for the inaction of the Marines. We were completely unaware of the situation regarding this island and it is entirely our fault for the treatment of your people."

Heilen nearly recoiled. He hadn't expected that much change since his retirement. Letting out a sigh, he muttered, "So the kid was right..."

But now wasn't the time to worry about the Marines' evolution. There was work to be done and they seemed willing to help. After relocating the temporary offices, the Marines, with Heilen's help, began their treatment. At first, the people were hesitant. After decades of clear hatred of the Marines, here was Mr. Heilen, working side by side with them. He was the one that had even told them about the Marine's hypocrisy. It had to be some kind of trick. But once the sick began to visit him, the news spread that he was still the crotchety old man they all knew and loved. Within only five hours, the inhabitants of the island had been examined and treated. Nearly all of them would have to be on medication for the rest of their lives. But with the Marine's help, they would be able to extend their lifespans well past the point Bede had estimated for them to have.

But the good news could only go so far. As the Marine doctors finished wrapping up their supplies, the other Marine officers gathered around their captain. Taking up a military stance, they formed a mute wall behind him. Once again, the emotionless look returned to the captain's face.

"We have now completed our primary objective. However, we are still required to investigate this island for the presence of the reported pirates of Lynn Tacken and a member of the Straw Hat Armada. If there is any information that will assist us in locating them, we would greatly appreciate it."

The crowd fell silent. Several scuffed at the ground, avoiding the Marine's eyes. Emotional turmoil filled their hearts over whether or not they'd have to betray one of their rescuers. Others, on the other hand, felt no such tension. Instead, they threw angry glances around the crowd, hoping to maybe spot the traitor. Somewhere in the crowd, Julia was frantically searching as well, but not for a traitor. Or, at least she hoped not. She knew Bede had to be there somewhere. A thought had occurred to her, but she silently hoped against it. There was no way it could be true... right?

"Yeah, that's me!"

Once again, the mob let out a collective gasp. This time, though, they were forcibly shoved aside as Lynn strutted and dragged Wechsler through. Everyone's eyes were on him now, and he reveled in the confusion. It even looked like he had taken the time to freshen up that morning, as if he had expected the attention. In the midst of all of this, he strolled right up to the Marine captain and stuck out his own hand.

"Name's Lynn Tacken," he said, the smirk never shrinking, "Nice to meet you."

The captain was thrown off. His stern mask had been shattered within seconds. Without thinking, he took Lynn's hand and mumbled out, "Captain Arnold, and... haven't we..."

Realizing what he was doing, Arnold snatched back his hand. There was a gleam of shock in his eyes. Lynn only smiled harder, if that was possible. Arnold felt a shiver go down his spine. There was something unnerving about it. He had heard that the Tackens were dangerous, but he had never given much thought to it. Their clan had been wiped out, after all. Or so they had thought. Standing there now, Captain Arnold was beginning to feel as if the rumors were true. That the Tacken family was mad.

In an attempt to regain composure, he cleared his throat with a cough. But before he could speak, Wechsler let out a quiet moan. Off balance once again, Arnold finally looked down at the bound pirate. At first, he couldn't process what he was looking at. His mind had gone blank trying to switch to this new subject of attention. Why had Tacken brought this tied up person who was presumably a pirate? The realization hit him like a sack of bricks. He had almost said it earlier, how he had thought he had heard Lynn's voice before. Now he was sure.

Pointing at Wechsler, Arnold said, "Were you the one to report your presence to the Marines last night?"

Lynn's eyes seemed to shimmer. "Yep, took you long enough to figure it out," he said, placing a foot on Wechsler's limp form, "I'm also the guy that did your job for you, so... you're welcome."

Arnold could do nothing but fall silent. In all his years as a Marine, he had never seen such a golden opportunity laid out before him. Not only did he have an already captured member of the Straw Hat Armada, but a member of one of the world's most notorious families was just standing there. And to top it off, he seemed willing to cooperate. Though he was quiet, his mind rang with the various sounds he'd heard as a Marine. Gunfire, swords clashing, and the sound of some of his best friends letting out their final cries. That noise filled his head. It was a reminder of all the work he had put in climbing to his current position. And right now, he had a way to streamline that effort for the rest of his life. No more struggle. No more hardship.

Captain Arnold took a deep breath. "I must thank you for your service, Tacken. While I do not understand your motives, I will still show you my gratitude. I will allow you twenty-four hours to flee, and then I will-"

"Well, isn't _that _boring?" Lynn said, interrupting the captain, "And here I went through all the effort to get my special entourage in order. Wanna know something funny? If I didn't warm you guys up to the old man back there, he probably would've shot you on sight."

Arnold was flabbergasted. He threw a glance at the old Marine Vice Admiral. He hoped that the veteran's face would be filled with shock and anger at the claim. Instead, he was met with a solemn nod. He turned back to Lynn. He sputtered out his words, but he didn't care. He tried to explained how Lynn should take the deal even more because of that, but he was cut off again.

"You know, I thought you guys fought for justice," Lynn smirked, "But I guess you guys haven't changed that much since the last Pirate King was executed."

Arnold bit the inside of his cheeks. HIs hands had balled up in fists. He was sure his face had already begun turning red to match his hair, but he didn't care. It took everything in his being not to let his anger out on Lynn. Instead, he took several short breaths, attempting to compose himself. When he finally spoke, there seemed to be a growl behind his voice.

"If that is truly the way you feel, then I will be forced to arrest you now. You have chosen this path. I cannot do anything about it now."

Moving in unison, two Marines stepped out from behind their captain and marched up to Lynn. Without a word, they unhooked handcuffs from their belts and latched them to his wrists. Each of them held their respective ends as they took their positions behind him. Lynn didn't stop grinning the entire time. Arnold was done fearing the sneer. Instead, he wanted Lynn to have a taste of his own medicine.

"Another thing I would like to make notice of is a rumor that has been going around about you. The idea of whether or not you are in possession of a crew member or first mate..." Arnold let his sentence trail off.

Lynn's smirk vanished. His nose twitched. The shine of mirth disappeared from his eyes. They were replaced by pools of anger. Arnold felt a quiet satisfaction. This was the reaction he was looking for.

"Whether or not this is true or not, of course, is up for scrutiny," he continued, his confidence growing as Lynn glowered, "However, it would be most convenient for that crewmember to escape now, as you only mentioned yourself in your report."

Lynn stared directly into the captain's eyes. He was met back with a look familiar to his days as a Marine. That of superiority. Lynn spoke in a low tone, keeping his words precisely level. "I don't have a crewmember."

With a _humph _the captain turned away from Lynn. He motioned for his waiting officers. He gave them their orders: search the island until Tacken's ally was found. Lynn silently glared at the captain as his subordinates fanned out. They would of course come up empty if they searched for a crewmember. Like he had said, he didn't have a crewmate. But the way the Marine had worded his order was worrying. On technicality alone, that could include every single member of the Heilen family. Lynn clenched his fists. Something had to be done to take their attention away from the search.

"Wait! That's me!"

The Marines halted in their tracks, wheeling back towards their captain. The Marine captain was just as confused and turned to the source of the cry. From the crowd, a figure broke out and ran right towards him. Lynn, who had also faced the sudden noise, felt his heart sink. There was a new pained look growing on his face.

"So, you _are _weird like that," he muttered, his mouth curling into a frown.

Julia just gave Lynn her own annoyed look. The sweat on her brow betrayed her, though. While she was in the crowd, Julia had come to the same realization that Lynn had. There was no way the captain would take an insult like that without some kind of compensation. Whether or not the person he arrested was innocent didn't matter. The decision to her was immediate. Self-sacrifice to protect the people of the island. But that wasn't the only reason she had reacted so impulsively.

Lynn was planning on going back out to sea. When she had first met him, he was indifferent to everything around him. If it disturbed his carefree life, he would try to ignore it or try to fight it off. But now, there seemed to be a purpose to his actions. He had goaded the Marine, not just to piss him off, but to get him arrested. That was clear to her, at least. And she doubted Lynn would let his journey end here, especially after what she had heard him say from Bede. Lynn was working an angle. He would be returning to the adventure. And if she could join in on it...

"So, you claim to be the mysterious crewmember of Lynn Tacken, do you?" the Captain asked, his voice drowning in patronization, "Well, if that would be the case, then our investigation would be wrapped up now. However, until we are certain you are actually what you claim to be, we will be continuing our investigation."

To this, Julia cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? You don't believe me? You know, I bet you guys would have just grabbed any odd-citizen just to fill some stupid quota. Just be happy I'm the nice one on this crew and chose to come on my own."

Arnold recoiled. Not only did the insult pierce his soul, it was also true. His mind relapsed back to its stable self. What had he been doing? He had let the pirate get under his skin with such a simple insult. He almost even proved it true, too. Again, there was that shiver of uncertainty in his core. Something was wrong. Not just with him, not just the situation, but the person he was arresting. He glanced at Lynn, who simply let out a sigh of defeat.

"She said it, not me," he said, the acceptance setting into his face.

Captain Arnold nodded without a word. No more words needed to be said. With a wave of his hand, one of his subordinates came forward and cuffed Julia. Now that the two were restrained, the Marine began leading them towards the awaiting boat. Glancing back at the crowd, they all stared at her. Their rabbling had been cut off the second she came forward. Not a word escaped their lips now while she was led away. But nowhere did she see her grandfather. He seemed to have vanished from the mob. She didn't see Bede either. But even with their absences, that invigorated feeling never left her chest. There was Sea Kings, pirates, disease, storms, and starvation awaiting her, but there was also the world itself. It laid stretched out before her, and it was ripe for the taking.

**A/N (6/12/20): If any of you have any questions, feel free to leave them in reviews. There will be a special saga wrap-up chapter that aims to answer any of these questions (as long as they contain no spoilers). So yeah, that's the conclusion of this first arc and I hope you've enjoyed.**


	8. The First Storm

_The First Storm_

Upon entering the warship, the two were searched and disarmed. Julia had had a scalpel in her pocket from when she had tried to help out with the medical inspections. Despite the claim, it was still confiscated. Lynn, on the other hand, didn't even get a word out about his pistol. It was taken the second they had stepped into the warship's shadow.

From there, the two, along with Wechsler, were led to the deeper levels of the vessel. Julia tried to memorize the direction they took, but gave up halfway into the task. The ship was probably the largest structure she had ever been in. Not only that, but the halls lacked any identifying features. They seemed to mesh together in her mind. There was no way to tell them apart. She hoped Lynn had accounted for that when he got himself arrested.

Finally, they arrived at their destination: the brig. Still in cuffs, the three were separated into their own individual cells. The entire time, the Marines that had been with them remained silent. Not a word escaped their lips as they clicked the locks into place. But it wasn't from professionalism. Julia smiled as a small bead of sweat appeared on her captor's brow. They were nervous, even when their prisoners were restrained. Though, as soon as the room's door closed behind them, that nervous energy seemed to vanish. Their whooping and laughter could be heard through the door and Julia's smile disappeared.

Sitting in his cell, Lynn had his ear pricked towards the door. Once the Marines were out of earshot, he let out a sigh. "Man, that was pretty annoying, don't you think?" he said, cracking his neck.

In her own cell, Julia glanced over at Lynn. For some reason, his casualness about the situation put her at ease. Turning her head, she looked over at the still-unconscious Wechsler. Despite his restraints, the Marines had still sought to add their own to the mass of shackles. According to the conversations she had overheard, the captain had specifically asked for seastone cuffs. She assumed that Lynn told them about Wechsler's power, otherwise they probably wouldn't have known about his fruit. He wasn't the most public pirate, that was for sure.

Turning her sight back on Lynn, she was shocked to see him settling down on the floor. Not knowing what to think, she tried calling out to him. She hoped her voice didn't reveal any of her uncertainty.

Lynn opened one eye to stare in her direction. With his cheek being pressed against the floor, he was able to mumble out, "I'm tired, so leave me alone. My plan's gonna take a while, so there's no point in doing anything right now."

And just like that, Lynn was out. His soft snoring could be heard resonating off the floor. Julia managed to swallow back her fears. Hearing Lynn say that he had a plan definitely made her feel better. She wasn't sure now if his lax attitude made her feel better or not, but it was certainly better than his usual self. Taking her own section of floor, her last thought before going to sleep was how she could keep Lynn in a constant state of fatigue. Maybe that way he wouldn't be such a cocky jerk.

With a start, Julia was roused from her sleep. She felt like she had only slept for a couple of seconds. Glancing around the room, she realized there was no way to tell how much time had passed. She also couldn't tell what had even awoken her. That is, until the boat shook. All around her, the walls vibrated. The bars of her cell clattered in place, giving off a weird, metallic whine.

"What's going on?" she cried out, turning to Lynn's cell, "Are we under attack?"

Lynn, who had sat back up, had his face raised to the ceiling. The smirk had returned to his face. "No, it's just a storm. But this is some perfect timing."

From where he was, Lynn struggled to his feet. His cuffs jingled as he slowly rose. He took the time to perform some rudimentary stretches, at least to the best of his ability. It's not the easiest task to stretch with your hands behind your back. But as he relaxed his muscles, laughter could soon be heard from across the room.

"And just how do you plan on getting out of this one, Tacken?" Wechsler asked.

Sitting in his own cell, Wechsler grinned at Lynn. He looked bleary-eyed from his inconsistent sleep schedule. He shifted in his seat, but made no attempt to rise himself.

Lynn snorted at the defunct tyrant. "I don't know, but I sure as hell won't be taking criticism from a guy who cries after losing."

Wechsler's grin vanished into his jowls. "If you don't understand the loyalty I have for my captain, then that's on you. If your crewmember never cries for you, then you never had their loyalty."

Nobody responded. Save for the occasional rattle of thunder, the only sound that could be heard was the faint hum of electricity in the walls. Julia shifted back and forth in her seat. She had no idea what Wechsler meant. Lynn didn't have a...

The pieces clicked into place. Wechsler was talking about her. Julia was floored. It was the first time someone called her a member of Lynn's crew, and it was _Wechsler _of all people. And not only that, he was making such a broad assumption about her. Despite the fact that she couldn't see herself crying over Lynn, she could feel anger beginning to burn deep within her. But before she could make her retort, Lynn began to speak again.

"Before either of you argue about who's going to cry next," he said with glimmering eyes, "Do you want to see a magic trick?"

The room fell silent. Lynn flashed the two a grin, satisfied with the attention. As they watched, though, his face changed from mirth to annoyance. Julia couldn't see well from where she was, but she was fairly certain he was gritting his teeth. She had to force herself from turning to see if Wechsler was just as confused as her. Instead, she kept her focus on Lynn, who had begun craning his neck. Just as she was about to voice her concern, a loud noise rang out from his cell. At first, she thought Lynn had somehow snapped his neck. Panic swelled in her at the thought. But as she frantically searched the cell's floor for a body, she realized that Lynn was still standing. And he had broken his cuffs.

Julia's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. She tried scrambling to her feet, but only ended up nearly face-planting. She had forgotten about her restraints. Rolling back to a seat, Julia simply stared at Lynn. The cuffs themselves were still attached to his wrists, but the chain had been snapped in half. Their light jangle could be heard between bursts of thunder. Thoughts and questions ran through her mind, but Wechsler was the first to make his voice known.

Lynn smiled at the pirate. The explanation was quite simple, he stated. When he had reported their activity to the Marines, he had informed them about the fact that Wechsler had a devil fruit. That's why he was bound with seastone. But Lynn had also chosen to omit a few details. Specifically, the fact that he had a devil fruit, too.

"I figured they wouldn't really fact check that, since they'd rush out to arrest me," he said. His smirk and eyes shined with vindication.

Julia could be nothing short of impressed. Her expectations for Lynn had been set low from the start. From the way he had acted back on her island, she had expected him to brute force his way through the Marines. If that wasn't a redemption, she didn't know what was. There was just one problem...

"So, what now?" she asked.

Lynn froze in place. His expression was stuck, as well, but the gears could be seen turning in his head. Julia let out a sigh. She knew the look and what it meant. _So much for a redemption,_ she thought. That's when Lynn snapped his fingers. A fresh look of confidence shot across his face and he began digging in his pockets. Julia didn't have to wait long to see what had caused the change in attitude. Within a minute, Lynn had already plucked out the thing he had been searching for. A gold coin.

"I figured this thing would come in handy at some point," he said, flipping it into the air.

He didn't wait for it to fall. Lynn slammed his palms together, catching the coin in midair. He let out a satisfied sigh. Lifting his hand away, he held up the coin. It had been folded perfectly. He quickly tested the point of the coin's new corner and smiled at the result. He kneeled down and drove his makeshift spike through the floor. He looked back up at Julia. Her face could only be described as befuddlement. He flashed her a smile.

"Now, let's see if this works," he said.

The words barely left his mouth when sparks began to fly from his hand. Currents of electricity danced across his arm. In the dim prison, it was like a spotlight had been trained on the limb. There was no time to admire the brightness, though. Lynn crouched down to one knee and stuck out his arm, taking ahold of the gold coin. Zaps of light shot out of the floor and the ceiling lights flickered violently. It looked like they had been replaced with strobe lights. Then the light bulbs shattered. Glass shards rained down into the blackened room. Julia felt a shout torn from her at the shock. She strained her eyes to peer through the void, but to no avail.

From across the room, Lynn began to speak. His voice rang out in the deathly quiet chamber. "Well, that could have gone better," he said.

A shot of anger passed through Julia. In her frustration, she tried to once again rise to her feet. She soon found herself clattering back to the floor. She offered up a silent thanks that Lynn couldn't see her in the dark. She twisted herself back into a sitting position. But before she could speak, she again found herself coming in second place to Wechsler.

"What did you hope to accomplish with that, boy?" he guffawed.

It was impossible to tell what Lynn was actually doing in the dark. Julia, however, was fairly certain she could hear him faintly scratching at his head. "I don't know, maybe I just wanted to see how good my aim was through wiring." Lynn said, "Count yourself lucky I missed, crybaby."

The pirate snorted in the dark. "It doesn't matter, anyway. You're out of options, since you stuck yourself in this position. There's no way, you'll ever escape!"

Before either Julia or Lynn could respond to the challenge, all three of them had their attention dragged to the front of the room as the door creaked open. A thin crack of light shined into the room, and a head pushed its way through. Other than the Marine hat they wore, their features couldn't be made out. At first, Julia was confused. There was seemingly no reason for the Marine's sudden appearance. A quick glance to the floor put this thought to rest. Staring at the shattered glass, fear began to well up inside her. What would happen if their escape attempt was discovered? Even if they couldn't prove anything from the broken bulbs, Lynn's cuffs would already be enough to warrant a stronger pair. Plans and ideas shot through her mind, but none of them stacked up to their current predicament. Sweat began to form on her brow. If only Bede was there, she thought.

The door was thrown wide open. Light poured into the room, causing spots to form in her vision. Julia blinked them away and turned her gaze back to the door. She nearly gagged in her shock. The thought of divine intervention sped through her mind. Whatever the case, standing in the doorway was both the person she hoped to see most and the last person she ever expected to see.

"What the hell are you doing here, doc?" Lynn basically shouted. His voice notably rose an octave.

Bede shook his head. "What do you think? I'm here to rescue you guys."

Julia could only stare. From his pocket, Bede produced a ring of keys. He dashed towards her cell and fitted one of them in the lock, releasing the door with a _click._ She knew her mouth was open, but she didn't bother closing it as he knelt down and undid her restraints. She let out a sigh of relief as the chains clattered to the floor around her. Bede gave her a quick hug before returning to his feet and exiting the cell. From there, he turned to Lynn's cell, who readily marched out after the door was unlocked, much to Bede's bewilderment. He tried questioning him on how he had already broken free, but Lynn simply waived it away, citing his own stature as proof. Bede didn't have much to argue with, and instead shook his head again and preceded to undo the cuffs that were still attached. Now that they were finally free, the trio moved to door, ready to leave that dreary place behind them.

They were only a few steps away before Wechsler began to laugh. The three looked back at Wechsler. If it wasn't for the fact that he was still wearing pajamas, it might have irked them.

"You three will never make it far with how you've acted to each other," he said, displaying a toothy grin, "You have no sense of comradery and I doubt you'll ever get one."

Lynn scoffed at him. "Like you've got room to talk. You're the one that got abandoned by his crew."

Wechsler chuckled. "Tough words coming from someone who came to my island alone, boy. I bet you're the one who was abandoned by your crew."

Lynn went stiff. His smirk twitched into a scowl. Suddenly, sparks began to fly from his body. Bede recoiled as Lynn grew brighter and brighter. Lynn grit his teeth and took a step towards Wechsler. The gluttonous pirate only grinned up at him. But before anything could happen, Julia grabbed at his wrist, pulling his attention away. She had her eyebrows knitted together. Whether it was from pain or anger, Lynn couldn't tell.

She growled back at Wechsler, "I hope you rot in whatever prison you end up in, bastard."

And with that, the three exited the prison, leaving Wechsler in total darkness.

Leaving the brig behind, they found themselves in one of the ship's many hallways. Just like Julia had seen before, it was indistinguishable from any of the others. While she looked around, she heard Lynn mutter something. She was about to question what Lynn said, but then she saw his eyes. They looked almost... concerned. If his meticulous side had been surprising, the way he looked now was a complete shock. Julia was at a loss for words. Lynn must have noticed her staring, because he quickly wiped the look from his face. Julia let out an internal sigh. Just another thing to figure out later, she guessed.

For now, there were other matters to attend to. Now that the initial shock was over, she spun around and basically threw herself into Bede. The wind was even knocked out of him with an audible _whoosh_. Still holding him in a death hug, Julia let forth a torrent of questions. Where had he gotten the uniform? Why was he there?_ How _was he there?

Prying himself away from his sister, Bede managed to get a breath in before beginning to answer. Back on the island, he had been sound asleep when the Marines had arrived. When he woke up, the only things he could tell was that his notes were gone – something Lynn took credit for – and that his sister had apparently been arrested. Freaked out, he had sprinted to try and find his grandfather. Though, when he got back to his house, Mr. Heilen didn't seem surprised at all.

"He even had bags packed for me to take," Bede said, recounting his grandfather's strange actions, "I guess he expected one or both of us to go with you, although I have no idea why."

Out of the corner of her eye, Julia managed to catch a flash of disappointment on Lynn's face. It only lasted a second, but it still confused her. Nevertheless, he had already relaxed his posture. He let a smirk grow on his face before saying, "That's a terrible disguise by the way, doc."

Bede was taken aback. "What do you mean, this is exactly how they wear it," he said, tugging at the uniform's scarf.

Lynn shook his head, the grin becoming even bigger. "Just trust me on this one, doc."

Bede pressed his lips together. There was obviously more he wanted to say, but instead of pursuing the matter, he let out a sigh. "Alright, whatever," he said, "I managed to snag this on my way down here." From his pocket, he retrieved a very familiar object.

Like a switch, Lynn's smile seemed to grow several sizes as he took his pistol back. Grasping it, he popped open the cylinders. He was mildly surprised to see it was still loaded, but shrugged it off. He would have to replace the holster, but that would be a job for later. Slipping the gun into his pocket, he held out his hand once more. Bede squinted in confusion.

"What about my comb?" Lynn asked, keeping his hand outstretched.

Bede reeled back, astounded. He tried to form words, but they barely came out in sputters. Lynn ignored this and marched right past him. Bede tried to protest, but Julia soon followed. For a moment, he just stood there, staring after the two. Then the realization of where he was came back to him, and he was soon rushing off after them.

Never had either Julia or Bede been in a structure as complex as that Marine warship. There were so many twists and turns that it was dizzying. How Lynn was able to not get lost was beyond them. No matter what direction he went, he never seemed to doubt a single step. Finally, they found themselves in front of another inconsequential looking door. Before Bede could offer suggestions of sneaking in, Lynn had already thrown the door open. Thankfully for Bede's heart, there was no one on the other side.

Before a minute had even passed, Lynn began ransacking the room. Boxes and other containers filled the air as Lynn dug through them all. From what Bede could tell, it was supposed to be a miscellaneous storage room with nothing particularly noteworthy about it. Why Lynn had led them there, he had no idea. In the middle of his thoughts, a small crate was sent hurling towards him. He leaped out of the way, avoiding it just in time. He threw Lynn an annoyed look, but Lynn just ignored him. Suddenly, the boxes stopped flying and Lynn let out a satisfied 'Aha'. Standing up straight, he brought his newly acquired comb to his head, brushing back any loose ends. Bede couldn't help but give Lynn a scornful look.

Noticing the look, Lynn scoffed at the doctor. He was already a wanted criminal, stealing from the Marines wouldn't change anything. Glancing behind Bede, Lynn flashed a thumbs-up and said, "That's the spirit."

Bede spun around. He found himself face to face with Julia. She was holding a brand-new camera. Bede's jaw dropped. "Julia!" he practically shouted.

But Lynn cut off any attempt for Bede to get on Julia's case. He informed them that they were only one floor away from the main deck. With the storm going on, most of the Marines would probably be on deck trying to handle any accidents that might have happened. The two siblings realized what this could only mean. They would have to sneak out.

Finding the staircase up was easy. At that point, Bede remembered the route he had begun to take on the way to rescue Lynn and Julia. The trio crept up the stairs and peaked through the door's porthole. From what they could tell, most of the Marines on deck were preoccupied with something. It appeared that the storm hadn't been expected, and they were busy fastening any loose equipment to the deck. It was now or never.

Bede took the lead as they glided across the deck. He led them straight to an awaiting emergency raft and lifted the tarp, revealing the bags he had been given. Throwing the cover away, he scrambled into the boat along with the stashed packs. Julia soon followed him. Not a single pair of eyes was on them. Things had gone off without a hitch. Now all that was left was for Lynn to get in and they would be able to get out of there.

He refused.

"What? You want to stay here?" Julia cried out, ignoring Bede's frantic shushing.

Lynn shook his head. "No, I just don't want you guys to come with me."

Julia was flabbergasted. After all they had been through, it seemed like a slap in the face. Bede had gone against his own judgement just so he could compromise with Lynn. She had put herself into harm's way to help Lynn and protect her friends. There was no way it could just... end, right? Bede tried to speak up, but was immediately cut off.

"No, doc. You listen," Lynn said, "You have no reason to be here other than the fact that your sister wants to play pirate. There's no room for that where I'm going. So, why don't you go home where I won't have to protect you, you deadweights."

There was no time to react. Only the feeling of a punch to the gut before alarms started to blare. All around them, orders were being shouted. Lynn clutched at his pistol, ready to go on the attack. But none of the focus was on them. Instead, the men seemed to be prepping cannons on the opposite side of the ship. Confused, Lynn peered off into the storm. The first thought that came to mind was a Sea King. They were uncommon, but were still sometimes a threat in the Cardinal Blues. As he scanned the dark sea, a lightning flash lit up the horizon and, subsequently, the enemy. It was a galleon. One that Lynn found to be very familiar.

"Well I'll be damned," he muttered as the Straw Hat vessel faded back into the night.

"Tacken!"

Drawn back to their own ship, Lynn looked up just in time to see Captain Arnold leap down in front of him. It was hard to tell in the pouring rain, but he looked even angrier than before. Lynn gave the captain a friendly greeting, thanking him for the accommodations. There was just the issue of his restricted freedoms that he had to deal with. It was a personal reason, really, but for that he'd have to bid them farewell.

Before Lynn could get in another jab at the captain, Bede dragged him into the raft. Just in time, too, as a burst of gunfire flew over their heads. Julia was quick to act as well. Without hesitation, she slammed her fist into the release switch, sending them careening to the frothing water below. They could hear the Marine captain yelling after them, but his voice was lost in the storm. And as the waves danced and crashed around them, the warship quickly vanished from their sight. Their escape was complete.

Now they just needed to survive the massive wave that was bearing down on them.

* * *

**A/N (5/21/2020): Sorry this chapter came out late by a couple days. My Internet has been acting up for the past two days, so I haven't been able to upload anything. Thankfully it appears to be resolved, so no more delays in the future.**

**Another tidbit for those who care about my private life: I went and got tested for COVID Antibodies today. So, we'll see whether or not I've had the virus at any point. It's funny, I've started reading Toriko recently and saying stuff like that makes me feel like Coco. Anyway, until next time!**

**A/N (6/27/20): Well this is a first, considering there are now two authors notes from two separate days here. You're probably wondering why that is. Well, I'll tell you! I decided that I wanted to change Lynn's devil fruit to something different. And, well, that required an entire scene to be changed. Go me and my indecisiveness. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story.**

**Also, just a little tidbit, but if you're curious about the story in any way, shape, or form, leave a question in a review! There will be a special end-of-saga chapter that will answer these sorts of questions. I've already got a couple others for it, so don't feel too pressured to do so. With all that said and done, I hope you have a good day!**


	9. The House on the Cliff

_The House on the Cliff_

It had been a little over a day since Lynn had last eaten anything. The hole that had once been his stomach demanded satiation. His whole body seemed to rumble along with it. And when he awoke, the first thing he felt was the fact that his mouth was full. Without questioning it, he tried swallowing whatever it was. Not a second later, he began to gag. His mouth was full of sand.

Shooting to a seat, Lynn began to spit the stuff out. He sputtered sand all over himself, but he didn't care. He just wanted it out of him. The more he spat out, the more his senses came back to him. First, his nose felt like it was on fire, like someone had shoved a chili pepper up it. Next was his hearing, with the first sound being the crashing waves that echoed around him. And finally, sight. At first, it was a struggle, as his eyes had been caked in sand. But with great effort, he just managed to pry them open.

Lynn blinked a couple times as the world came into focus around him. From the waves, he had been able to tell he was on some kind of beach. What he hadn't known was the fact that the island was more of a cliff jutting out of the sea than, well, an island. Rock ridges stacked themselves skyward until they formed a seemingly flat summit. Still fuzzy in the brain, Lynn shook his head. Everything seemed to be a haze to him. The last thing he remembered was a giant wall of water surrounding him.

Panic shot through his system. Lynn slapped at his leg, letting out a sigh of relief at the familiar shape. Reacquainted with his weapon, he glanced to either side. Sure enough, there on the beach with him were the still unconscious forms of Bede and Julia. Squinting at Bede, he was amazed to see that the doctor had managed to clutch onto the bags he had brought. He had to give credit to the doc's dedication. But even with that determination, there was still the problem of how they were going to get off that island.

"Oh, so you did survive that storm."

Without a moment's hesitation, Lynn dropped his hand to his pocket. The bullets would be useless, having been soaked in seawater, but he had to hope his opponent didn't know that. But as the precaution passed through his head, he soon became entranced by the figure standing before him. He was a large hulk of a man, who appeared to be taller than even Bede. Unlike the doctor, his body was covered in rippling muscle. He probably only wore a loose jacket because it was the only thing that wouldn't tear from sudden movements. But all of this combined didn't hold Lynn's attention nearly as much as his face. For dead center in his forehead was a large, singular eye.

Lynn couldn't get a word out. Sure, he'd been all over the world, but he'd never seen a cyclops before. At least, that's what he could only assume he was. He had read myths about them, but those were just stories. It was different when the actual thing was standing in front of you.

"Surprised by the eye, kid? Don't worry, most are," the cyclops said, scratching the back of his head, "It's not every day someone in the West Blue meets a fishman."

The gears clicked into place. Suddenly, details about the man came into even clearer view. His hands were webbed, and his feet were, too, probably. And if he lifted his jacket, Lynn would probably see gills. He had never seen a fishman before, but at least they weren't myths.

"Yeah, sorry about that, gramps," Lynn began, climbing to his feet, "Usually my welcoming parties include some kind of eye-candy. So, I just wasn't sure how to react when it was just you."

Lynn smirked at the fishman. They had to get off that island eventually, so there was no point getting friendly. Besides, if he made the man angry enough, he just might build them a way off the place. He had heard that most fishmen were skilled shipwrights, and an angrily built boat was better than nothing. Without warning, a sudden sharp pain to the back of the head cut through his thoughts. Just as quickly, Lynn clutched at the injury and glanced at his attacker.

"Who are you calling 'eye-candy', asshole?" Julia seethed, her hand balled in a fist. Behind her, Bede was also coming to, although he still appeared groggy from the storm.

From his crouched stance, Lynn spat back, "I don't know. Who are you calling 'asshole', deadweight?"

Julia looked about ready to commit murder. With fists so tight they became white, she took a step towards Lynn and immediately face-planted in the sand. Her foot had been hooked onto the strap of her newly acquired camera, which had somehow survived the storm. Lynn chuckling didn't help the situation. With fire in her eyes, she leaped to her feet, preparing to strike Lynn again. But as she took another step, laughter began to bellow from the fishman they had completely forgotten.

"Your crew is something else, pirate!" he guffawed, "I haven't had entertainment like this in years! Also, if you're looking for eye-candy, my grandson's hair is so long now that you'd mistake him for a girl!"

With that, the fishman turned and began marching up the mountain trail. Julia and Lynn shared a look. Unfortunately for them, their confusion was equally matched. Neither of them was sure what to think of the fishman. Up ahead, he looked back at the two. He seemed to be just as confused.

He called out, "What are you waiting for? I thought I invited you to come with me, didn't I?"

Once again, Lynn and Julia glanced at each other. The uncertainty in their eyes was clear. They didn't know for sure what the man wanted with them. All they knew was that they were tired and hungry. If he was willing to offer them some shelter, then a risk would have to be taken. With all of that in mind, the two roused Bede from his daze and began to follow the fishman to his home.

The task was easier said than done. Several times throughout the hike land would give way, and either Lynn, Julia, or Bede would nearly tumble to the sea below. Thankfully the fishman, whose name they learned to be Ichime, was always there to pull them from the ledge. At some point, they had even realized the sun had passed midday. They had been on the trail for almost an hour. Just as the trio was about to give up on the climb, they finally reached the summit.

A field spread out before them. The grass was a vibrant shade of green, and a small flock of sheep happily munched on it. Julia, in her relief, fell face-first into the turf. The first thing she felt was how cool it was. Despite the sun's closeness, it was like she had pressed her face into a damp cloth. Still standing, Bede's mind was on other things.

Looking up at Ichime, Bede asked, "How is your grass so green? It seems like the only water around here is from the ocean, so how would you keep it like this?"

Ichime slapped Bede on the back, causing the doctor to nearly topple over. Laughing, he replied, "I've never looked too far into it, myself. I just assume the wave's force pushes water up the mountain, kind of like what happens at Reverse Mountain."

Bede nodded. There was really no way he could test the validity of that claim, so he would just have to take it at face value. He flinched as he took a step forward. Twisting around, he rubbed at the spot where Ichime smacked him. The fishman offered up an apology, but he didn't seem to be the most remorseful. Glancing back at him, Bede could see no malicious intent in the smile. Returning the smile, Bede straightened his posture and gave a meek thumbs-up. Sure that he hadn't broken the doctor's back, Ichime led the three to their final destination: his house.

On the outside, the structure appeared to be very simple. It was a log cabin with clay filling stuffed in between each stacked level. Once they entered, the thought was immediately dispelled. While it wasn't as complex as the Marine warship, it definitely was more lived-in than the sea vessel. The room they entered in doubled as a kitchen and dining room, but that was it for functionality. The rest of the space was packed with decorations, most of which centered on ship memorabilia. The walls were absolutely stuffed with things like wheels, torn sails, and old, framed newspaper clippings. Lynn nodded his head as he took in the room, as his suspicions had been confirmed. Either Ichime was a ship-nut or he was a shipwright.

But as the trio's gaze wandered the room, a growing sense of unease began to fall on them. At first, they couldn't place why they were feeling this way. Nothing about the homey setting seemed to spark concern. Bede was the first to notice the pair of eyes. They had been staring out from behind one of the sails, and they were noticeably angry. He nearly jumped out of his skin when they blinked at him. Following Bede's gaze, Lynn dropped his hand to his pocket. He smirked when the eyes flinched at this. Before anything could be started, Ichime chimed in with laughter.

"Oh, don't worry!" he said. He marched over to the curtain and tore it away, revealing a much smaller figure. "This is just my grandson, Ichiro."

Despite the statement, the two looked to have nothing alike. It wasn't just the size difference, either, although dwarfing his grandson didn't help. Unlike his grandfather's shock of white hair, Ichiro's bushy mess was a deep black which reached down to his shoulders. But the contrast didn't end at looks. While Ichime had worn nothing but a smile, Ichiro was the exact opposite. He glared at the trio with an intensity that hinted at an attempt to disintegrate. Bede couldn't help but wonder where along the way had Ichime ended up with such a perfect antithesis.

The question, though, was not the best suited for a meal. Especially one that was prepared so promptly by their host. With food placed in front of them, Lynn and Julia dug into their plates. Bede watched with a mixture of disgust and fascination as they scarfed down their meals. Taking the modest approach, he began to work through his plate. He let out a satisfied sigh as the warmth of the simple dish hit him. Content, he looked back at Ichiro and gagged.

When he had first been revealed, the teen had only had his right side facing them. He now leaned against the wall, continuing his glare. And with his full body in view, Bede was able to see his left arm. Or, at least, what was left of it. He wore a loose jacket, but the left sleeve had been tied up. From where the knot was, Bede could tell that Ichiro only had an upper arm left. Sympathy began to well up inside him. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to live life like that.

Ichiro, however, looked to be unappreciative of the pity party. He grabbed at the knot and gritted his teeth. Somehow, his glare had become even more rage-filled. But before he could shout at the doctor, Lynn had already broken into the scene.

"Hey, old man," he said, drawing Ichime's attention, "How'd your grandson lose his arm."

For the first time that day, the fishman's smile had vanished. The tablecloth became balled in his fists. His scowl became just as fierce as his grandson's, and his eye dilated. Julia and Bede shrunk away from Ichime's rage. They were about to force Lynn to apologize before he began to speak.

"I'm surprised you didn't hear them this morning," he growled. His lower lip quivered with every word. "It was those damn Ursa Pirates and their stupidity that did this to my grandson!"

Ichime's words felt like they echoed around the room. Over and over, Bede and Julia heard his speech in their heads. Julia was especially hit by what he said. Even if she had essentially forced Lynn into letting her join, it still felt wrong to sit in that house. She was a pirate now. Her contemporaries were people that could mutilate their victims and not bat an eye. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought. Before any doubt could set in, Lynn had already started talking again.

"Well, I'm sure that's a tale I'd rather avoid. Don't want to have my food coming up," he said. He pushed his chair back and stood from the table. The boards squeaked as he walked to the door. He called back, "Tell me if anything interesting happens, Julia. I've gotta go take a leak."

And just like that, he was gone. The room was dead quiet. Julia herself had faltered at the request. What could Lynn find to be interesting about someone's horror story? Eyeing Ichime, she could see that his fury had been replaced by confusion, and she couldn't blame him. Any attempt to apologize floundered in her mind. Calling her captain an asshole didn't feel genuine to her. She breathed a sigh of relief when Bede took over.

"I'm so sorry about Lynn's behavior," he said, "He isn't exactly the best when it comes to... empathy." He turned his gaze to the sulking teen. "Your name is Ichiro, correct? If it would be okay with you, I'd like to examine your arm."

Ichiro huffed at the request. "What, are you into that kind of thing?"

Bede shook his head. "No, I'm actually a doctor, and I want to make sure your arm isn't infected or worse."

"Why should I trust you? You're a pirate."

Bede let out a sigh. He still wasn't sure about the path he had set out on. He was there to make sure his sister was safe. At least, that's what he hoped he was there for. He still had a chance to turn around and leave that life. But he doubted Julia would return with him. And considering the fact that Lynn's journey would lead him to the Grand Line...

He shook his head. He had to choose his next words carefully. "I may be a part of Lynn's crew, but I can assure you that that is my secondary role. I am, first and foremost, a doctor."

Bede kept his eyes fixed on Ichiro's. Neither of them wavered for a moment. When Bede had finished speaking, though, Ichiro let out his own sigh. He sulked his way over and plopped down in a chair. Bede gave him a meek smile. Ichiro just continued to stare; the defeat was clear on his face. Dropping the expression, Bede began to pull medical supplies from his bag. Julia peered over his shoulder and noticed some unfamiliar items. Upon seeing a Marine insignia, she muttered, "Hypocrite," and returned to her seat.

While he worked, Bede began to ask Ichiro questions. At first, he was reluctant to answer, but after some insistence from his grandfather, he began to answer. It had happened about a year ago, during a storm a lot like last night. Off the coast of their island, Ichiro had noticed a ship having difficulties against the waves. He had watched in mild interest, taking note of any improvements he would make to the ship if he were to design it. Then it happened. His intrigue twisted into horror as the main mast snapped in half. All he could do was stare as disaster struck the vessel. He couldn't tear his eyes away. As he gazed onward, he noticed the helmsman tumble to the sea. He frantically scanned the ship's deck, but no one had noticed the man's sudden departure. Without thinking, Ichiro soon found himself cutting through the air, already halfway down to the sea below.

Despite the high fall, Ichiro shot through the water and towards the ship. His eyes were peeled open to try and catch a glimpse of the fallen sailor. Just as he was about to give up hope, he spotted him ahead. He didn't even struggle as he sunk beneath the surface. Instead, he remained stagnant as ship debris surrounded him. With a renewed sense of desperation, Ichiro sped up his swimming. But as he reached the sailor, he felt something begin to wrap around his arm. From his position, he couldn't tell what it was. All he knew was that it was cold. The last thing he remembered was a rogue wave slamming into him and a terrible pain ripping up his body before he blacked out.

"When I woke up, I was covered in blood, and... and my arm was gone," Ichiro muttered. He had joined his grandfather in balling the tablecloth in his fist. "And now they've got my grampa fixing their ship. Like it wasn't enough to save their captain's life." His jaw shook as he gritted his teeth.

All Bede could do was offer a look of sympathy and carry on. One of the first things he had learned from his father was to let patients like Ichiro get their anger out. There was nothing he could say to make him feel any better about his situation. If he even tried to, it would seem insensitive and like he was talking down to him. Instead, he swabbed the stump with alcohol and began wrapping it with bandages. Ichime had done an excellent job keeping the wound clean, but it was nothing compared to first-grade medical supplies. He could feel Julia's cold stare when he thought this.

"Well, that should do you," Bede said, wiping sweat from his brow, "I'll leave you clean bandages and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. It should keep you well-off for a couple months."

Ichiro nodded to this. The anger had left his face, but there was still a fire in his eyes. Bede doubted it would be gone when the supplies ran out. It wasn't so long ago that a similar fire had lit his soul. His heart began to pound as he remembered the day it had been set ablaze. The day his father was killed in front of him. His mind was pulled back to reality when the door slammed open.

All attention was dragged to the entryway. In the doorway, Lynn stood, foot still lifted from his kick. Ichiro jumped to his feet. The flame in his eyes spread to the rest of his body and he looked ready to attack Lynn. He opened his mouth to yell at him, but the words caught in his throat upon seeing what Lynn had brought with him.

"I hope this is enough to pay you back for feeding us," Lynn said, "I assume this is the guy that cut off the kid's arm."

At his feet, a large and burly man laid. His entire body seemed to be layered in scruffy hair. The only thing that covered any of it was a roughly sewn pair of pants and jacket vest. Aside from that, there was a noticeable bump growing on the side of his head. It seemed to shift through multiple shades of purple as they stared. Drool leaked from his mouth. Bede and Julia had never seen the man before, but from the shocked looks on Ichime and Ichiro's faces, it was clear who he was. The captain of the Ursa Pirates: Barboso.

Lynn smirked at the small family. "I really hate debts," he said.

* * *

**A/N (5/27/2020): Hello again! Glad to see the chapter's on time! What? the chapter's late by a day? Don't you know that time is an illusion? Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, as it was pretty fun to introduce more named characters. Gotta start expanding that cast now. Fun Fact: There is actually going to be about twenty major named characters in this first stretch of the story. One of them is even a fan-suggested one from a long time ago.**

**In real life news, the Antibodies tests came back and I apparently tested negative while my mother tested positive. How is that possible?**

**That's something for me to worry about, though. All I want to know is what has been your favorite part of the story so far? I know there isn't much to go off of, but I really want to know. Anyway, hope you all have a good evening... unless you live in a completely different timezone.**


	10. Consequences of Piracy

_Consequences of Piracy_

Over the next few days, Lynn and the others watched as Ichime put the finishing touches on the ship's repairs. It had been a slow journey which took the better part of a year to complete, but it was done. Now, the ship stood moored and ready to set sail. This time, though, it would sail under a neutral flag. Any indication that the vessel had once belonged to pirates had been swept away, leaving only an average sloop to be observed.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for those sabotage points I put in, this pretty thing would have been done months ago," Ichime said. A grin had spread across his face as he spoke.

While Julia didn't understand the intricacies of ship-building, she felt a sense of wonder at the fishman's statement. It was certainly not the largest vessel she had ever been on - the warship could account for that. The idea, though, that one person had been able to repair the damages she had heard Ichiro talk about boggled her mind. She thought back to her own grandfather, wondering if he was still capable of feats of similar magnitude. But as the memories flooded over her, a twinge of regret hit her heart. She had never gotten the chance to say goodbye.

Now, a day later and out at sea, that guilt was still making a jungle gym out of her brain. She leaned from the bulwark of the ship and stared out at the vast expanse. That was another thing that felt unreal to her. She had done it. She was out at sea. But in making that decision, she had changed so much about her life. And not just her life, but the lives of her family. Her grandfather was now all alone, probably gazing at the same ocean view as her and wondering if she was safe. And there was her brother, too. Although, when she looked at Bede, she couldn't tell how he felt about any of this. Especially now that he was nose-deep in a book that she had never seen before. Her mouth scrunched and she turned back to the ocean.

Bede's new habit of thievery wasn't the only way he had adjusted to the sea. Yesterday morning, Ichime had dragged him into the service of tending to the sails. Supposedly, it would be easier for him since he was taller. That didn't stop Bede from complaining though, as the old fishman put him literally through the ropes. But as the day wore on, the young doctor became more and more accustomed to his new position. He even was able to trim the sails without needing any instruction. Ichime congratulated Bede on his fast learning, which earned him another powerful slap to the back.

With the wind weaker than yesterday, there wasn't much for Bede to do now. Instead, he lounged in a deck chair he had found in the pirate's storage. Looking down at her brother, she was amazed with what a day's worth of labor had done for him. Bede had never been the most active, but he had also never been out of shape. Under her examination, she could tell that there had been an effect, though. It wasn't right to call it muscle mass, because it was impossible to develop any that quickly no matter how strenuous the exercise. It was hard to describe, but there was definitely something different about him.

"Hey doc, nice tan," Lynn said. He walked up between the two and leaned against the ship's siding. He offered up a smile.

Julia struggled not to react. If Bede had looked different to her, then it was as if a whole other person was standing in Lynn's place. His face looked much softer than before and his general demeanor was relaxed. There was no exuding of confidence; just Lynn living in the moment. The moment was cut short, though, when he noticed her stare. Like a switch, his appearance shifted. His features seemed to grow sharper and his smile gained an arrogant edge. The disappointment on Julia's face must have been obvious. He let out a chuckle at the sight.

"So, what are you two anchors' plans once we get to the island?" he said, switching his gaze from Julia to Bede.

Julia let out a sigh, but continued nonetheless. "I plan on getting us supplies and maybe a weapon for myself. I don't want to have to rely on you of all people to protect me."

Lynn cocked an eyebrow, but remained silent. Julia let her lips curl into a smile. Another point for her.

Without closing the book, Bede responded, "I need supplies, as well, specifically medical. The things my grandfather packed are good, but they're not enough. That's part of the reason I... relieved certain items from the Marines."

Once again, Julia found herself throwing Bede an annoyed look. But there was also the pang of guilt that wouldn't go away. It had been her decision to go out to sea. In doing so, Bede had been forced to follow in order to keep her safe. That meant that it was her fault that her grandfather was now alone. She just couldn't understand why he had packed things for the two of them. There was no time to reflect, however, as someone shouted for them across the ship.

"Hey, pirates!" Ichiro exclaimed, "There's a story about you in the paper!" In his hand, he waved around a copy of the daily print. The News Coo could be seen in the distance making its journey back to the journal's headquarters.

In no time flat, Julia had torn through the article. It mostly focused on how Lynn had become more active as a pirate. At the end of the article, it detailed their escape from the Marine warship. Thinking there was more to the story, Julia flipped to the next page. From the paper's folds, three sheets slipped to the floor. Lynn lazily gazed over her shoulder. He let out a huff when he saw the parchments' content.

"Damn, they didn't even update my bounty." His eyes shifted to the other two posters. "Congrats about your guys'."

Julia's mouth went dry. With a shaky hand, she lifted the poster from the deck. She stared at it and Julia stared back, grim-faced. It was impossible to tell when the picture had been taken. The background was too blurred to make out any possible location. But that didn't matter. Her focus had shifted to the number under her name. She almost gagged reading it out.

"Twenty... twenty million berries..." She looked like she was about to faint.

Lynn's smirk grew as Julia read her bounty. She should have expected this when she followed him. But before he could mock her, Bede was already reacting to his own poster.

"Wait, they put five million on my head!" he cried out. He stared at his image open-mouthed and with furrowed brow.

Unlike Julia's, the photo chosen for his poster was largely dynamic. It had been taken right before the trio's escape from the warship. His hair had been swept up in the wind, leaving only weird shadows to obscure his face. He had been caught in the middle of a glare, and his eyes seemed to pierce the image. All around him, the storm raged. There was even a flash of lightning captured in the background. It was almost laughable the small number attached to such a menacing photo.

Julia ripped the poster out of Bede's hands. She glared at the bounty, as if willing it to switch places with her's. "Why'd you get such a lower bounty than me? And what's with these stupid nicknames? They called you 'Storm Cloak' and they called me 'Valkyrie'."

"It's probably because," Lynn said, sitting down on the unoccupied half of the lounge chair, "You basically announced to them that you're my crewmember. And those names are so people can more easily identify you. Honestly don't know why they choose them, sometimes. I may have been in the Marines, but I still don't get why they called me 'Thunder Beast'."

The siblings had to do a double take. Lynn had started grooming at his hair with the comb he had acquired from the Marines, but stopped upon seeing their reactions. His eyes shifted between the two, the confusion obvious in his expression. Then a light-bulb flickered on in his head. He had forgotten to tell them about serving as a Marine chore-boy. Before any explanation could get out, they were once again interrupted by Ichiro.

"So," he said, shifting his weight between his feet, "You guys are officially wanted now, huh?"

Weight wasn't the only thing that shifted for the young shipwright in training. For the past two days, after Barboso's defeat at Lynn's hands, Ichiro had remained largely quiet. The only times he would even get close to the group would be when he was assisting his grandfather with the reconstruction. Other than that, he had kept his distance. The only tell to his mood was his mouth becoming a thin line whenever his gaze fell on the three of them. Compared to how he had acted when they first appeared, Julia thought it was an improvement.

In front of them, now, he wore that same tight-lipped expression. His eyebrows had also scrunched together, but not in a glare. Without waiting for an answer, he said, "I guess you guys are going to go to the Grand Line after this."

Lynn grinned at the shipwright. "That's right. And I'm not stopping until I've gone all the way to the end."

Ichiro gave a slow nod. His shuffling feet began to scuff at the boards. Staring at the ground, he muttered something under his breath. Lynn's eyes perked up and his grin grew into a smirk.

"What was that? Didn't quite hear you," he said.

Ichiro shook his head, saying, "I just said 'Good luck with that'."

Giving his own nod, Lynn shrugged his shoulders. He stood straight from his lean and stretched out his arms. Satisfied, he marched right up to the mast. At the foot of the wooden beam, the crew of the Ursa pirates sat tied and unconscious. Each of them had various bumps and bruises to the head. For a moment, he silently stared at the group while seeming to count them.

Without warning, his hand shot forward, dragging the least damaged looking member to the front. With a violent shake, the pirate was awakened and began to panic. Another shake rendered him silent. The three that had been left at the ship's side could only hear a word or two from Lynn and the pirate's conversation. All they could tell was that there was a lot of gesturing involved. Before they knew it, the talk was over and the pirate was placed back among his numbers with a fresh bump appearing on his head. Not pausing for a second, Lynn turned and walked into the pirate's former cabin. Again, the three could only share confused looks. That is, until a savory scent began to fill the air.

It was a smell unlike any the three had ever encountered. Bede and Julia couldn't remember the last time they had smelt food like this. Having been raised on a largely clinical diet, there hadn't been much in the way of decadent or over-seasoned meals. And once Wechsler had begun ruling over the island, even those meals became scarce. Ichiro, on the other hand, had never had that much of a balanced diet. It had always been filled with mostly meet and whatever vegetable Ichime had managed to grow. The difference, though, was the fact that there had never been a time where his grandfather's meals had smelled so good.

After seemingly a lifetime, Lynn emerged from the ship's cabin. He carried two pots, with one stacked on top of the other. Noticing a distinct lack of cutlery, Julia rushed into the ship's interior and returned with a stack of bowls. Spoons could be heard clattering inside of the top one. Even Ichime had noticed the development, as he had tossed the anchor overboard and joined the others in gathering around Lynn. Surrounded by his audience, a small smirk played across Lynn's face before dramatically unveiling his creation. A piping hot pot of curry.

Without waiting a moment, the group began to dig in. From the second pot, they spooned a steaming mound of rice into their bowls. On top of that, they ladled on their preferred amount of curry. From there, each of them took their respective seats, with Julia and Bede returning to the lounge chair to sit side-by-side. Julia herself grinned at Lynn.

"Is this your way of congratulating us for getting bounties?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Lynn snorted, retorting, "This is just a 'Good job!' for getting the Marine to think you're dangerous."

Julia shook her head at this. There was no time to offer her own comeback. The scent of curry was invading her nostrils. With her mouth watering, she raised a large spoonful of the stuff and chomped down on it. She almost gagged it out. Tears had begun to stream from her eyes and she entered a coughing fit. Every breath she took felt like she was inhaling flames. Bede calmly placed his untouched bowl down before attending to his sister.

Lynn let out a chortle as Julia scrubbed at her tongue. "Yeah, the guy I learned how to make this from didn't have any restraint when it came to spices."

Julia glared up at Lynn from her doubled-over position. More than anything in the world, she wanted to firmly plant her fist in Lynn's face. With her murderous gaze, she felt a tinge of satisfaction when she realized Lynn's face had gone red while chewing. During all of this, Ichiro stared at the trio, his expression having shifted to confusion.

"There's no way it's actually that hot, right?" he said, turning his sight from Lynn, to Julia, to Bede, and then to his own bowl of curry and rice, which had remained uneaten.

Lynn shrugged his shoulders, saying, "I don't know, why don't you tell me?"

For a moment, Ichiro continued to stare at his bowl. The conflicted look he had been wearing for days at that point was now focused on curry. Frankly, it looked ridiculous. But as he stared, something incredible happened. For the first time since they had met, a smile began to fill his face. Raising his eyes, Ichiro looked back at Lynn, who matched him with a smile of his own.

"I bet I can eat this bowl in one gulp and not feel anything," Ichiro said. He raised the bowl higher, as if showcasing its size to the ship.

With a chuckle, Lynn took another bite. Through the food, he said, "Your body, not mine." His eye winced as his teeth ground into the curry.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ichiro tipped the bowl back. Julia watched in horror as the contents disappeared into his mouth. Bede watched in curiosity, wondering how much worse his reaction would be. He didn't have to wait long, as Ichiro's body seemed to immediately revolt against itself. The young shipwright writhed in agony as hiccups rocked his body. In between the thrashings, he would curse about his ribs or how hot his mouth felt. From across the deck, Lynn began to laugh.

Ichiro fell onto his hand and knees, dry heaving onto the deck. Propped up on his arm, he turned to face Lynn. The grin on his face was so juxtaposed to his suffering that it was almost painful to look at. Between hiccups and coughs, he managed to get out, "Told you I wouldn't feel it going down!"

All around him, the rest of the ship erupted into laughter. Julia completely forgot about her own suffering, instead doubling over from her giggling. Ichime was once again letting out bellowing laughter that echoed across the ocean. Even Bede was letting out some small chuckles. He relaxed in his seat, knowing that there wasn't an immediate need for medical help. But in this peaceful state, he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Having focused so much of his attention on Ichiro, his mind had wandered and he inattentively raised up his own spoonful of curry. And before anyone could stop him, the utensil had entered his mouth.

For the rest of the trip, both Bede and Julia would send complaints Lynn's way. Even when the wind had picked up and Bede was forced to return to his post, he would say how he'd rather do that for the rest of his life rather than eat another spoonful of what Lynn called curry. All the while, Lynn, who was soon joined by a recovered Ichiro, would laugh at their woes. Their mirth wouldn't last long, as, within only a couple hours, their destination finally came into view: Dineberg Island.

Lynn let out a contented sigh. "Alright," he said, stretching his back, "Let's go get a ship."

* * *

**A/N (6/16/20): Okay, I promise that I will not let this become a trend.**

**Other than that, I hope you all have enjoyed the story so far! Please let me know what you've liked the most and what you've disliked the most, as I hope to improve my writing based off your feedback. While you're at it, leave a question with your review. Once again, I plan to have a special end-of-saga chapter that will answer most of these questions.**

**On another note, I have gone back and edited some parts of the previous chapters. Most of the changes aren't large, but there are two that definitely stick out in my mind that will change the way you read the story going forward. Anyway, I hope you continue reading!**


	11. Homecoming

_Homecoming_

From the deck of the ship, Dineberg looked like it had been completely encased in a cityscape. The metropolis sprawled across every surface of the island, with some buildings even needing structural supports to stay out of the sea. There didn't seem to be any kind of architectural symmetry. It instead looked like a weird mish-mash of styles and structures. And yet, it didn't look like a cluttered mess. Every part looked to come together to form into one complete and cohesive society. Lynn couldn't care less, though. His focus was on the large smoke-stacks that jutted out from behind the island. At the base of those, they would find their destination: the shipyards of the Schiff Company.

"So, old man," Lynn said, "You used to work for this company, right?"

Ichime snorted. "Work for it? Hell, kid, I'm the one who helped found it! Back when I first moved to the West Blue, I was planning on making a shipwright company anyway, but then I met Isaac Schiff. He was the most talented human ship-builder I've ever met! In fact, when we first partnered up, we would race to see who could complete a client's order the fastest. Our wives eventually had to step in to explain to us why that was a failing business model, but we still had a hell of a time!" The old fishman let out a sigh. A big smile spread across his face as he stared off into the distance.

From her lounge-chair, Julia gave Ichime a questioning look. "Well, why isn't your name on it, then?" she asked.

At this, he barked out a laugh. "Well, we were planning on calling it something related to my eye, but when my son was born with two, we had to shift plans a little."

Ever curious, Julia kept bombarding the fishman with more and more questions. While the island grew closer and closer, the questions only became more and more personal. Ichime, while good natured, was beginning to show the effects of the incessant interrogation. It was hard to tell with his gaze planted firmly ahead, but his smile was clearly wavering. It wasn't until they reached the docks of the shipwright company that he had the chance to escape. Before the anchor had even hit the water, Ichime dashed away from the steering post and leaped from the upper deck. With a _thud _that made the whole ship shudder, he landed at the foot of the mast and of most of their captives. No time was wasted before he heaved the thick rope up and over his shoulder. Every single pirate was now under his jurisdiction.

Lynn watched the fishman with mild amusement while reclining on the ship's railing. He asked whether or not Ichime would be able to handle them on his own. The smirk was almost audible in his voice. Ichime simply responded by laughing, stating that it reminded him of carrying sacks of potatoes.

With the potato-pirates dragging behind him, Ichime turned back to the rest of Lynn's crew. "I'm going to take these boys to the jail, so I'll be gone for a while," he said, "Ichiro, you can handle getting them a ship. Just look for Isaac and he'll be sure to help you."

The fishman then leaped from the ship, shaking the dock with his landing. The sound of splintering wood could be heard when the pirates flopped to the floor after him. A small smile grew on Lynn's face as he stared at the spectacle. The entire scene looked reminiscent of a man dragging a netful of fish behind him. But he wasn't the only one watching Ichime's arrival. One by one, shipwrights from around the docks approached him. Each and every one of them looked like they had been pounding iron their entire lives. They could probably lift one of the ships they were constructing right out of the water if they banded together. Next to the fishman, though, they looked as though a calm breeze could knock them down. A chatter began to go up from the group that gathered around Ichime. Lynn didn't have to be close to hear what they were saying. The admiration they wore was enough to know.

Lynn's view shifted from the gaggle that had gathered to the rest of the plant. Even with the small crowd surrounding Ichime, the rest of the company still appeared to be busy at work. A host of other muscular men could be seen in the distance, lugging things like lumber and cables to and from work sites. Most of the bustle, however, seemed to be focused on one dry dock in particular. Lynn felt his gaze settle on the work zone. As he watched, two masts sprung from the ship's deck in unison. They wobbled for a bit before being set in their final place, pointing straight to the clouds above.

Lynn let out a low whistle. "Kind of incredible that someone that old would still be running an operation like this," he said.

"Oh, Mr. Schiff doesn't do any on-site work anymore," Ichiro said, following Lynn's gaze, "He leaves all of that to his son, Isaac."

Bede, who had also joined the other's staring, turned back to Ichiro. His face was scrunched into a frown. "Between you, your grandfather, and now this Schiff family, I'm beginning to get a headache at these similar names."

Ichiro laughed. "Well, don't worry. I doubt we'll have anything to do with Mr. Schiff today. Besides, Isaac's more fun anyways." And with that, he leapt over the railing and to the dock below.

Not wanting to be left behind, the small crew were soon right behind him. Their path had been mostly cleared of the burly men, as quite a few had chosen to follow Ichime into town. Of the ones that stayed, all of them offered friendly waves and greetings to the leading youngster. The same couldn't be said for Lynn. Upon seeing him, most of them would find something else to occupy their attention and avert their gaze. Some, on the other hand, would give angry glares and mutter under their breath. As they passed more and more of these scowls, Julia felt concern well up inside her. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure whether or not she should be more worried for Lynn or the shipwrights. Unsure of what to say, she tapped Lynn on the shoulder, hoping to draw his attention. He glanced back over his shoulder to reveal he was wearing a grin.

Julia staggered in her step. Before he could question her, she waived him off, saying that she had changed her mind. She mentally shook her head and regained her pace. There was nothing to worry about after all, she thought.

"Look out below!" a voice cried out from above.

Without even realizing it, the four of them had reached the end of the docks. Dead ahead of them was the very vessel that they had been watching earlier. And now something could be heard whipping through the air above them. At the sudden interjection, Bede and Julia stumbled back. They threw their sight skyward in hopes to see what was falling, but only ended up nearly blinded from the sun. Lynn, however, remained fixed in place with his eyes planted forward. Without a moment's notice, Lynn threw his arm forward and snatched the falling projectile out of the air. Bede, who had been halfway through shouting warnings, felt the words catch in his throat. In that moment, the wind chose to pick up, and the flag that Lynn caught billowed out to reveal its crest.

There was no time to admire the symbol's artwork, though. Another shout from above was already alerting them of a new airborne object. The group turned their gaze upward once more, but they were only able to catch a glimpse before it crashed into the dock. This time, it was a person. They had slammed to the floor feet first, sending shivers across the planks. Even with all the noise around them, their entrance still sent echoes around the harbor. Rising to their feet, they offered up a grin and strode forward. Julia and Bede couldn't help but compare the distance from the crow's nest and where they were standing.

Lynn gave a smirk of his own and gestured at the flag. "Doesn't really suggest much about a shipwright if they can't keep the flag from hitting the ground."

The shipwright gave a hearty laugh before taking the flag back. He let it lean on his shoulder, careful not to let the fabric settle on the dock. Out of all the men there, he looked to be the least impressively built, being more lean than muscular. It was easy to tell that since his shirt was in tatters. It looked to have once originally been a clean purple, but singe lines and other stains had tarnished it. The only intact piece was the part that bore the company's logo. With his free hand, he lifted his goggles up to his forehead. His eyes shined with mirth.

"Hey, Isaac, long time no see!" Ichiro said, stepping towards the shipwright.

If Isaac's eyes had been shining before, they were positively sparkling now. Grabbing Ichiro by the hand, he pulled him into a bear hug, saying, "Great to see you, Ichiro! How's my little cousin doing?"

Ichiro gave a meek, "Good", before pulling away. But the two didn't let go of the other's hand. Instead, they seemed to be trying to break the other's grip. Before long, their arms were beginning to shake as the concentration spread across their faces. It wasn't long after that Isaac yielded. He grinned and shook his hand a bit, as if to get the feeling back into it.

"I've gotta say, buddy, you've definitely gotten stronger," he said, using his other hand to roll his knuckles.

Ichiro shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I have only had this arm to focus on."

For the first time, Isaac seemed to notice that Ichiro was down an arm. His eyes went wide and his hand flew to his mouth, covering the lower half of his face. His eyes glanced between the tied-off sleeve and Ichiro's face. With his mouth still concealed, he quietly asked what had happened. Ichiro glanced to the floor. In a bitter tone he simply responded that it was pirates. Julia felt a shiver go down her spine. There it was, again. That uncertain feeling about the path she had chosen. And after walking past all of those shipwrights and their angry stares, it felt like it had become stronger.

With a start, Isaac turned to face her. Julia cringed away. It seemed like he had taken notice of whatever minuscule movements she had made. Whatever the case, his attention was now on her. There was no animosity in the stare. It was more inquisitive, than anything else; as if he was unused to a human presence, despite being surrounded by so many. Completed with his study of her, Isaac's focus shifted once again. This time, his gaze fell on Lynn, who had chosen to start grinning. Julia could almost see the gears click into place as realization dawned in Isaac's eyes. Without a word, he pointed first at Lynn, then at Ichiro, then at Ichiro's tied off sleeve. The entire time, his eyebrows were scrunched together and he left his mouth slightly agape. The question on his mind was obvious.

"No, Isaac, these aren't the pirates that got my arm cut off," Ichiro said, rolling his eyes as he spoke.

The shipwright let out a sigh and wiped at his brow, although his goggles got mostly in the way. "Well, that's a relief. I was going to have to question your friendships, cousin. Especially when one of them is from the Tacken family."

All Lynn could do was blink. The multiple head injuries he'd had over the past few years floated into his mind. For the first time, he wondered if Julia and Bede's island had cursed him. But he shook these thoughts away, filing them with everything else under things to deal with later.

With his stupor broken, Lynn gave Isaac a quizzical look. "So, me being from a notorious pirate family doesn't bother you?"

Isaac paused, but then shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. I was a baby when that whole thing was ending, so I don't see the point in worrying about it. Besides, you seem like someone who knows how to treat a ship, so I can't complain about that."

When he said this, Bede and Julia shared a look between themselves. For Julia, a distinct memory of a crumbling rowboat came back to her. Lynn, on the other hand, crossed his arms and nodded along. His grin had already returned as he began to speak again.

"Since we're on the topic, I'm actually here to get myself a ship by trading the one the old man fixed," he said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder.

A grin spread across Isaac's face. "Yep, I saw the very one you were coming in on. I actually dropped this flag because I was rushing to see you." Isaac chuckled and shook his head. He had even begun to blush. "But that's beside the point. If you plan on reselling that ship, I might be able to cut you a deal. I'll probably be able to put it up for sale at the market value since it was repaired by Mr. Ichime, of all people."

Upon hearing this, Lynn felt a little weight drop from his shoulders. Taking a breath, he coolly remarked that that was a good thing, since they didn't have the money for a new ship. As he said this, though, he heard Bede mutter something under his breath. With a sigh, he turned to the doctor and began to pry. He already had a good idea of what he said, and it wasn't long before it was confirmed. Bede's grandfather had given them money.

"I mean, he said he had stolen from Wechsler's castle, but still..." Bede sputtered out.

Lynn pinched the bridge of his nose. With a groan, he said, "Remind me when I drop you guys back off at your island that I need to give your old man a serious talking to."

Julia balked at Lynn's words. That entire time, the idea of whether or not Lynn had changed his mind had never crossed hers. A strain of thoughts, most of which would be considered offensive, ran through her head. But as hard as she thought, none of them would convey exactly what she felt in that moment. She glanced over at Bede, but only his lips had pursed. Looking at her brother, her lips curled down and her bitter thoughts gained a new target. There was no time for them to fester, though, as a cry rang out from across the plant.

"Mr. Isaac, sir! There's an emergency!"

Torn away from their conversation, the small group turned to see one of the shipwrights sprinting straight for them. Lynn and Ichiro both realized that he had been one of the ones to follow Ichime into the town. He was fairly young and his face had shined the brightest with wonder. Now, panic filled his eyes and he clutched at his arm. It was soaked in blood. He tried to gasp out his warning, but before anyone could react, an explosive blast thundered from somewhere within the town. No words were needed to know what had happened.

"Bede, you're coming with me. You've got doctor things to do," Lynn said, cracking his knuckles. Facing the town, his expression shifted to a glare as the smoke rose above the rooftops, "I've got business to deal with."

It was Ichiro's turn to recoil at what Lynn said. With a start, he managed to say, "But why? You're a pirate. Why would you help the town?"

Lynn rolled his eyes. "I'm not doing this for the town, I'm doing this for your grandpa! What part of 'I hate debts' do you not understand?"

If his words were meant to clarify anything, then they had obviously failed for Ichiro. Instead, his mouth was left agape and his eyes widened. But Lynn didn't have the time to deal with him.

Turning from the confused Ichiro, he pointed at Julia, saying, "You're in charge of making sure the ship's safe."

Julia floundered to respond. All she was able to get out was the fact that she didn't have a weapon. Lynn cast his gaze skywards and began to mutter to himself. If the situation was different, it might have looked like he was praying. But, once again, there was urgent matters to attend to. Gritting his teeth, he whispered, "Screw it," under his breath and tossed Julia his pistol.

"There's four shots left in it, so don't waste them," he said. The fire in his eyes made it clear the decision was not pleasant. "If there is so much as a scratch on that gun, then it's your life."

Julia gulped and nodded. There was something different about Lynn's grimace than before. A cold feeling settled over her as she slipped the gun into her pocket. She silently thanked herself for wearing jeans that day.

With the ship's defense taken care of, Lynn spun back towards the town and let out a sigh. There was now even more smoke on the horizon than before. Glancing to Bede, the doctor returned the look with a somber nod. Once again, the two found themselves marching right towards the enemy.

"Doc, we've got work to do."

* * *

**A/N (7/14/20): Well... been a while. Like a month, I think. To anyone that's been wondering, I did not die. To explain what happened, simply put... I didn't feel like writing. Not that I had writer's block or anything, but I just couldn't seem to feel the want to write. I don't know if there's a term for it, but that's what happened. Hopefully that won't happen again anytime soon and hopefully I will be able to get the next chapter out on time, especially since this chapter didn't have much going on in it. Again, I'm sorry that I didn't upload. If I had been, we would have been about two thirds of the way through the upcoming battle. So, look forward to that!**


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